Acute power crunch hits Okhaldhunga....................................................................................................................... OKHALDHUNGA: Though most of VDCs in Okhaldhunga district are lit up with electricity for 24 hours a day, headquarters residents are forced to spend their time in darkness round-the-clock. Okhaldhunga headquarters gets power once in every two days for two hours only, sources said today. Headquarters denizens are compelled to stay in darkness due to lack of source for electricity generation and receding water level at the Tothanekhola Electricity Project (125 Kilowatt). After the water level at Tothnekhola receded, the project is generating just 75 KW power, which is distributed to Rumjatar and Okhaldhunga in alternative days.Electricity is generated two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. As the power is distributed in the headquarters area divided into three parts, locals in headquarters receive electricity once in every two days for two hours alone. Owing to acute power crunch, locals in headquarters are compelled to use alternative sources of energy for work. Most of the households in headquarters have installed solar panels as alternative source of energy. Okhaldhunga has 56 VDCs. District Development Committee Planning Chief Ganesh Katwal said, “Most of the locals never keep the electricity plug off as they are not sure when the power is supplied,” Katwal said. It is not that the district does not have source to generate power. Altogether five megawatt power can be generated from Rampur’s Molungkhola. But, the Molungkhola has been already sold. Social worker Bharat Katwal said their efforts to get back Molungkhola for power generation have gone in vain. Unlike headquarters, most of the VDCs have power supply for 24 hours a day. The villages have been lit up with electricity as power has been generated from various places at local levels. According to Bharat Katwal, more than 15 places of Molungkhola have been sold. CPN-UML Okhaldhunga, DDC vice-chairman Mohan Shrestha said efforts were underway to link Okhaldhunga with the central transmission line. “The work to connect Okhaldhuga with the central transmission line is on, hopefully this will materialise within this year,” he added. The Nepal Electricity Authority, Okhaldhunga, said work to expand the transmission line from Khotang’s Buipa to Okhaldhunga headquarters was on. “As the small hydro project is on the verge of closure, we are trying to connect headquarters with central transmission line,” NEA Okhaldhunga Chief Ramekwal Sah added.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 16:51:52 +0000