The Nepal Electricity Authority has started automating the electricity distribution system of the area under the Bharatpur Distribution Center by undergrounding it and strengthening it.

Former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-Maoist (Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Managing Director of the Authority Kulman Ghising laid the foundation stone of the construction work on Saturday.

Under the Pokhara-Bharatpur distribution system strengthening project, 36 km of 33 KV line, 75 km of 11 KV line and 70 km of 400 volt line will be undergrounded in the main urban areas of Bharatpur. In addition, 26 kilometers of underground optical fiber will be laid and the capacity of transformers that are currently in operation will be increased and new ones will be added.

The authority is currently automating the power distribution system of Kathmandu Valley by undergrounding it and strengthening it. This program has been extended to the main urban areas under Kaski’s Pokhara and Bharatpur distribution centers.

In the foundation laying ceremony, former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ said that the work of undergrounding the electrical infrastructure will help to fulfill the goal of establishing a smart and beautiful Bharatpur. He emphasized that since the work of undergrounding the wire is connected with the safety of the people and the beauty of the urban area, everything should be done to make it successful.

Renu Dahal, Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City, said that underground and strengthening the electricity distribution system will help to develop Bharatpur as a smart city by increasing the beauty of it.

Ghisingh, executive director of the authority, said that the underground system would be safer and more reliable than the overhead distribution system currently in use and it would also help in maintaining the urban beauty.

He mentioned that since the optical fiber will be laid along with the electric wire, internet, telecommunication, cable television service providers can provide services using the optical fiber.

The Pokhara-Bharatpur distribution system strengthening project has started with the investment of the authority and the concessional loan of the Asian Development Bank. For the construction of the project, a contract was signed with Tata Project Ltd., India on October 2078 for 16.7 million US dollars and 49.68 million rupees. Out of this, 7.98 million dollars and 222.23 million rupees will be spent for the work of the area in Bharatpur.

The contract was executed on January 2078. The project is expected to be completed within two years.