Due to the regular preventive maintenance works on the 11 kV transmission line, the Thamel area in the Capital will face a power cut on Saturday.

According to the Ratnapark distribution centre of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the area around Thamel that is covered by the respective transmission line will face power cut from 8am to 5pm.

Some of the areas that will be affected by the maintenance works are Thamel, Lainchaur, Hattisar, Naxal and Tangal.

“The power cut on Saturday does not mean that we have resorted to load-shedding again,” said an official at NEA seeking anonymity. “We have managed continuous power supply across the nation since the last few months and this power cut is only due to maintenance works.”

According to the official, due to heavy rains, landslides and other natural disasters the transmission lines in the power distribution system also get affected, so it is necessary to carry out maintenance works at regular intervals.

Meanwhile, NEA has also reduced energy import from India as domestic production has increased. The water levels in the rivers have been gradually rising, which means electricity production has also risen subsequently and the power utility is managing most of its supply through domestic production.

The official informed that import of electricity from India has decreased bynearly 22 per cent and only 400 megawatts of electricity is being imported during peak hours at present.

“Due to the heavy rains that we receive in the monsoon which affect the transmission lines, distribution lines, substations
and transformers it is vital to conduct timely preventive maintenance works,” he added.

As Nepal Electricity Authority has been facing this problem since long, the power utility plans to upgrade the entire distribution system across the nation for better electricity access to all but this will take some time, he added.

“The NEA has allocated budget to upgrade the entire electricity distribution system but it is not sufficient, so we are planning to do so through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grants,” he informed.