NEA to continue 42-hrs weekly load shedding

NEA to continue 42-hrs weekly load shedding
eKantipur, 15-Apr-08

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is going to continue the 42-hours weekly load shedding schedule it had been enforcing for months.

People were shortly relieved from power cuts until Tuesday as almost all government and non-government offices, industrial entities and other institutions were closed during public holidays for constituent assembly (CA) polls since April 7.

The NEA was expecting increase in water level due to melting snow in the mountains with the rise in temperature and rainfall in the recent days, but it did not happen.

"When we checked it after resumption of NEA offices on Tuesday, we found no significant improvement in water level in the rivers," said Sher Singh Bhatt, chief of the NEA Load Dispatching Center, adding that therefore NEA would continue the 42-hour-week load shedding schedule from Tuesday itself.

The electricity demand has increased with work at offices and industrial entities resuming on Tuesday.

The water level in the rivers can be expected to increase in a stable way with melting snow in the mountains only after the first week of May, according to him. Until that happens, the current load-shedding will continue.

Hours of power cuts was shortened for the last couple of days as electricity demand significantly decreased mainly after April 9, a day before CA polls were held.

NEA had earlier shortened power cuts from 48-hour-a-week to 42-hour-a-week.