Scheduled Electric Power Cut off in Nepalby | 21-01-2015 03:24 |
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![]() ![]() Dear Friends, today I would like to share a troublesome problem tackled everyday by citizens of Nepal since decades. Have you ever heard about the scheduled electric power cut off for 11 hours daily? If not , you will be shattered hearing this report. Let me first tell briefly about my country Nepal. Nepal is least developed country that lies in South Asia with an area of 1,47,181 sq. km and around 26 million population surrounded by two giant nations India and China. It is the second richest country in inland water resources and possess around 2.8% of the world water resources with around 6000 rivers but no any seas. Rivers in Nepal are mainly of perennial nature originating from the snow capped Himalayas. Technicians claim for the potential of generating 83000 MW of hydroelectricity but till date only 650 MW production has been recorded due to which only 40% of the country's population have access to electricity. The electricity demand has been increasing by 7-9% each year with increasing population. Though these days, solar power has drawn the attention in public but the initial high installation cost makes it unaffordable for majority of the people. Lack of effective monitoring has resulted in tremendous leakage of electricity adding threat to worsen the situation in coming days.We compare ourselves with a parrot in a golden cage. Despite bearing the huge potential for hydroelectricity we face a maximum of up to 16 hours power cut everyday during dry seasons and the main cause underlying is the highly unstable political situation of Nepal and trans- boundary river issues. Along with this problem, access to internet is associated. Mobile internet service is not reliable and costly in Nepal whereas we need electricity for WiFi. While the world is marching forward to explore the space and secrets of universe, thousands of youth like me in Nepal need to wait patiently for hours to access electric power everyday. I (representing thousand others like me) wake up sometime in the midnight or early at 3 am according to the schedule just to utilize the internet and complete assignments. Our happiness is beyond limit if someday we get access to power before the allocated time. Nevertheless, we are hopeful for a day when we will be utilizing our resources with full potential and sustainability. (Source: Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited)
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