On the eve of the festival season, the country’s largest industrial corridor, the Parsa-Bara Industrial Corridor, has begun facing an extreme shortage of electricity. Since the fire at the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Bhaluhi substation in Parwanipur two weeks ago, industries in the corridor have not been able to receive a regular supply of electricity.

During the festival season, the demand for goods such as food grains, daily consumables, and construction materials also increases comparatively. In such a situation, industries need to produce more goods than usual. However, when the main raw material for industries-electricity-has itself been partially disrupted, and the electricity that is available is of poor quality, it creates problems for industrialists in operating their industries smoothly.

Hari Gautam, President of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, complains that even the electricity supplied over the past two weeks has been experiencing tripping 10 to 12 times a day. “Firstly, the electricity supply itself is insufficient, and on top of that, the available electricity has been tripping 10 to 12 times daily,” he said. “Even in between the tripping, the electricity available is not of good quality.”

He stated that if the electricity problem in this corridor, which has around 1,000 of the country’s largest industries, is not resolved immediately, industrialists will suffer huge losses during the peak season, even though it is the main period for earning profits through uninterrupted industrial operations. Madhav Rajpal, Senior Vice President of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that during the festival season, industries producing food grains, iron products, paint, and other items require more electricity, but the industries in the corridor are receiving only a partial supply.

He stated that export-oriented industries, such as Dabur Nepal, Triveni Cinpack, and Shivshakti Chemoplast, are currently operating on diesel. He added that industries running on the authority’s 11 kV transmission line are facing the most difficulties. Since the authority has been unable to supply electricity to these industries for a long time, he has demanded that the demand charges for this period should also be waived.

The corridor generally requires 300 to 500 megawatts of electricity. However, he said that in recent days, the industries have been receiving only half of the required supply. Avdhesh Dubey, Chief of the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Birgunj Distribution Center, stated that after a fire broke out in a breaker at the Bhaluhi substation, causing a fire in the substation itself, problems have arisen in the 11 kV transmission line.

He said that on Thursday, an attempt was made to partially resolve the electricity problem in the industrial area by activating four feeders. He added that electricity was supplied from the Birgunj–Prasauti transmission line on Thursday to address the electricity issues in residential areas. For now, he stated that there are no problems with the 66 kV and 132 kV transmission lines.

Source: Kantipur