There will be no load-shedding now: NEA

Published On: January 1, 2021 02:05 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Jan 1: Amid rising concerns and warnings by people not to take the country back to the 'dark age' again, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has clarified that the ongoing power interruptions are not because of load-shedding and that load-shedding will not be imposed now or in the future. Issuing a press release, it has urged consumers, media and journalists 'to understand that load-shedding ended three years ago and will not come back since NEA has been working dedicatedly to ensure smooth power supply'.

"Load shedding is compulsive only when the demand is higher than the supply. At present, electricity produced in the country and that imported from India well covers the demand. There's no need to go for load-shedding now or in the future," the statement issued on Thursday reads.

According to the statement, people are wrong to term it as load-shedding when power supply is interrupted at times due to overload in the system. "The problem has stemmed also from transfer or replacement of old electricity poles and transformers. Infrastructural changes are underway," the release says.

Random power cuts have been little more frequent in the last two weeks. This has been experienced by locals of various parts of the Kathmandu valley and outside. According to reports, the sale of emergency lights has soared while inverters are slowly making a comeback.

On Monday and Tuesday, relatively bigger areas of Kathmandu valley witnessed power outages for over half an hour in the evening and this added to the speculations whether NEA was indeed preparing for systematic power cuts. Social media posts got flooded with threats and abuses for the current NEA leadership while many demanded the earlier managing director of NEA Kulman Ghisingh's second innings at the office.

Before Ghishing's tenure as NEA chief in 2016, the country had witnessed up-to 18 hours of load shedding daily and NEA was in a huge loss. Within a few months of his assuming the post, people were relieved of inverters and power backups. Even during the festival of Tihar (festival of light) Ghishing ensured smooth power supply. And when he exited in September, he handed over a profit making NEA.