After industrialists of the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor hit the street seeking a regular and reliable supply of electricity, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Sunday accepted that load-shedding has been enforced in the industrial corridors as it struggles to manage power distribution. The state-owned power utility has said that the current supply of electricity is insufficient to meet the demand due to the prolonged dry season. The industrial corridors in different parts of the country have been facing power cuts of up to 12 hours on a daily basis in recent times. According to industrialists, this has hit factory production badly. NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the current power cut issue is a short-term problem and would be resolved in the next two weeks. "We are working to ensure such problems do not occur in the coming years," said Ghising in a press meet at NEA on Sunday. According to him, due to the lack of transmission infrastructure, NEA has not been able to deliver electricity to the industries even by importing from India.

Ghising said it could have imported the necessary electricity from India but there is a lack of infrastructure to supply that electricity from Dhalkebar to eastern Nepal. "The electricity imported from India will come from Dhalkebar from where only 240-240 MW electricity can be sent from Dhalkebar to east and west," he said. "If we send more power, the transmission line will not be able to handle such supply." NEA has said it could not import more than 100 MW of electricity from Bihar.

According to the NEA, industries in Biratnagar and eastern Nepal had to face power cuts due to the problem in the Rukmini substation. "The substation has been repaired, and electricity supply has been ensured since Saturday," said Ghising. " However, there is still a compulsion of power cuts during the peak hours in some industries." NEA says power generation this winter plunged more than last winter due to the prolonged dry season and decrease in water levels in the rivers. According to Ghising, there won't be a supply problem from next year. "The 400 KV Inaruwa-Dhalkebar-Hetauda transmission line will be completed in the next one year. Similarly, the 220 kV Hetauda-Bharatpur-Butwal transmission line will be completed in the next few months," he said. "We will be in a comfortable position to supply the electricity in industrial corridors." While NEA has tried to assure the private sector, industrialists from eastern Nepal are demanding that the power utility should publish the schedule of load shedding. Power cuts at manufacturing plants have caused a drop in production besides damaging expensive equipment, they say. Suyesh Pyakurel, President of Chamber of Industries Morang, said that industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been forced to close due to the power cut. "We understand that 24-hour electricity cannot be supplied at this time," he said. "However, it has become increasingly difficult for us to operate the industry when the power is cut daily without a schedule." The NEA has been cutting power daily from 6 am to 10 am and from 5 pm to 10 pm in industrial areas. Apart from that, the industrialists complain that there are power cuts at other times as well.