Industries of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor, which is the main industrial area of the country, have been at the receiving end due to the poor quality of electricity supplied to them. The industries have been subject to unannounced load-shedding and frequent tripping.

Nepal Electricity Authority claims that the industries of Bara and Parsa have not been subjected to load-shedding. However, industrialists claim that they face power cuts for hours without any prior notice.

They complain that the frequent tripping of electricity results in damage of raw materials and the quality of electricity they receive is also below the set standard.

Mostly, industries that produce textile, iron, medicines and those that rely on furnace are severely affected by the frequent power cuts, says Madhav Rajpal, chairman of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce.

“The raw materials that are being processed get wasted due to the sudden power cuts. It also causes damage to the equipment,” said Rajpal, adding that the electricity consumption also increases when there is frequent power cuts.

NEA admitted that there is problem of tripping when the demand of electricity is high because the capacity of Birgunj-Parwanipur transmission line is weak. Chief of the Birgunj Distribution Centre of NEA Jitendra Kumar Jha says that the problem of tripping is a result of excessive demand for electricity than the capacity of the transmission line.

Birgunj Chamber of Commerce has drawn the attention of the NEA that the industries have been facing the problem of tripping for 8 to 10 times a day. Issuing a statement on Sunday, the chamber has demanded high quality electricity for the industries.