Photo: TRN NEA MD Kul Man Ghising with the heads of municipalities during a programme.

The Nepal Electricity Authority has honoured the municipalities under Lumbini Province that have paid their street light dues.

Municipalities and rural municipalities within the area of the distribution centre under the Lumbini Provincial Office, Butwal, of NEA which have paid their street light dues regularly and have long-standing arrears, have been honoured, according to a press statement of NEA.

On behalf of the Authority, Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising distributed honours along with letters of appreciation to the heads of 13 municipalities, including five rural municipalities and eight municipalities, at a programme held in Butwal on Wednesday.

The rural municipalities, including Omsatiya, Siyari, Pratappur, Sarawal and Susta rural municipalities have been honoured for paying their street light tariff and long-standing dues.

Similarly, Siddharthanagar, Ramgram, Bardaghat, Tilottama, Kapilvastu, Sandhikharka, Bhumikasthan and Resunga municipalities have been honoured. The said municipalities have been paying their long-standing arrears of street lights and are paying their tariff regularly.

At the programme, the NEA has also provided a certificate of appreciation to the then Chief District Officer of the district Bishwo Prakash Aryal and Skim Shrestha, who provided necessary coordination and support to complete the construction of the 33 kV line, which could not be constructed due to obstruction by local residents in some places within the area of the Parasi Distribution Centre located in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta West).

Stating that the 13 municipalities have done exemplary and commendable work by paying the arrears and regular tariff of the street lights installed in their areas, Ghising said that this has encouraged other municipalities to pay their arrears.

“The amount raised from the arrears is an investment source for the NEA, which is working as a campaign to improve the transmission and distribution system in urban areas and expand electricity services in rural areas," he said.

"The Authority will be forced to cut off the line of those who do not pay the tariff and install street lights without metres, so we also request other municipalities to pay the arrears."

Ghising said that in order to increase the yield and productivity through irrigation by supplying electricity to the fields of the Tarai, the electrification of irrigation has been carried out in collaboration with local levels and concessions have been made in the tariffs.

He said, "In order to make the electricity supply sufficient, reliable and qualitative in the districts of Lumbini Province, which has great potential for the expansion of the agricultural and industrial sectors, we are going to construct a 220 kV transmission line from the new Butwal substation to Motipur via the postal highway."