The 33/11 kV substation constructed at Bharatpur Metropolitan City-6, Devnagar in Chitwan and the Gondrang-Devnagar 33 kV transmission line have been inaugurated. Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City Renu Dahal and Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kul Man Ghising jointly inaugurated the substation and transmission line on Saturday.

On the occasion, Mayor Dahal said that complaints from consumers about low voltage in power supply will be addressed after the Devnagar substation came into operation.

Stating that transmission lines and substations had been constructed with the help and support of Chitwan National Park, local residents, Dahal requested NEA to replace bare wires in some areas and put the wires underground as per the demand of the locals.

Deputy Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City Chitrasen Adhikari said that the construction of the substation would prove to be a milestone for the development of the western part of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

Chief District Officer of Chitwan Bhupendra Jung Thapa said that with the operation of the substation, the foundation had been prepared for the settlement of complaints about the electricity supply coming from that area and the establishment of new factories.

Ghising said that the work had been progressed for reliable, qualitative and sufficient power supply for 24 hours by projecting the electricity demand in Bharatpur Metropolitan City for the next 50 years.

He said that in order to address the increasing electricity demand due to rapid urbanization in the Bharatpur Metropolitan City area, work was being done to connect through the 33 kV ring to the 123 kV substation. Manoj Silwal, Deputy Managing Director of NEA, said that the situation of not being able to supply electricity according to the demand and having to carry out compulsory load shedding in that area ended after the construction of the Devnagar substation.

He said that now qualitative and sufficient electricity could be provided in that area as per the demand.

From Devanagar substation, electricity had been supplied to wards 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 22 and 23 of Bharatpur Metropolitan City. A power transformer of 24 MVA capacity has been placed in the substation, from which around 22 MW of electricity can be supplied.

The 33 kV transmission line from the 132 kV Baseni substation located in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-11 has been tapped at Gondrang and taken to Devnagar substation via Bandevi, Salleni, Gaurigunj, Baruwa, Kesharbagh.

About 9.5 km 33 kV transmission line has been constructed from Gondrang to Devnagar substation. A total of four feeders of 11 kV have been taken out from Devnagar substation for local power supply.

After starting to supply electricity from Devnagar substation, the problem of low voltage faced by the consumers of Gaurigunj, Prembasti, Shivnagar, Phulbari, Gitanagar, Patihani, Sitamai in the south-west region of Bharatpur has been solved and the supply has become sufficient, reliable, qualitative and safe, according to the NEA.

The 33 kV transmission lines and substations have been constructed with the investment of the government of Nepal and the NEA and concessional loans received under the World Bank's Grid Solar and Energy Efficiency Project (Package -9).

Project Director Achyut Ghimire said that the cost of Gondrang-Devnagar 33 kV transmission line and substation was around Rs. 100 million.

Although the substation was ready, there was some delay in bringing the substation into operation due to local obstacles in the construction of the line and the time required for environmental study and its approval.