Community radio stations and local newspapers in the district have been severely affected due to lack of power, according to Khotang chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). [break]
“We were alright with the scheduled outage, but we don´t have power even when we are scheduled to get. We are on the verge of closing FM stations and newspapers,” FNJ Khotang president Dambar Singh Rai said.
Local community radio Rupakot FM has stopped transmission from last week. “We used to operate through solar panels and inverter but now there isn´t even power to recharge the inverter,” Rupakot FM journalist Daman Rai said.
Likewise, Halesi FM too has stopped broadcast for the past one month after a lightning damaged its solar panel on March 24, according to its station manager Shyam Khadka.
Around half a dozen weeklies and fortnightlies have also been affected by power shortage. “We have not been able to publish our issue since mid-April,” complained desk editor of Naulo Bichar Weekly and treasurer of FNJ, Khotang Bimala Rai.
Khotang chief of Nepal Electricity Authority Ramananda Yadav conceded that around 5,000 customers in Khotang have not received regular power since the storm disrupted 11,000 KV transmission line at a few places.
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