Kalikot in darkness after floods sweep hydropower

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    KALIKOT, JUN 19 –

    kalikotThe residents of Kalikot have not seen electricity for the last one year after the hydropower project in the district was swept by floods. The locals of Manma, the district headquarters, and surrounding seven VDCs are forced to live in dark after a hydropower was swept away by a flood last year.

    As the 500-kilowatt Sannigadh Power Project is yet to be repaired, the local of Manma, district headquarters and surrounding seven VDCs along with several businesses have not been able to use electricity. Three furniture industries and five computer institutes in Manma have shut down for not being provided electricity. Local FMs and publications are also finding it hard to run, while health institutions are not operating to their full potentials. The flood s last year reportedly swept away the canal and ravaged the power house.

    According to the locals, some of them, particularly traders, use generators and solar battery as a substitute. The locals have had to suffer up to the point where they pay Rs 20 and Rs 50 to charge mobile phones and laptops respectively.

     Chairman of the Consumer Welfare Forum Kali Bahadur Bista reiterated that the Sannigad rive flood swept away the hydropower, leaving the surround areas without light.

    Media person Ashok Kumar Singh said the locals are deprived of their rights to information without access to the internet.

    The economically poor are, however, affected most since prices of petrol and kerosene have reached Rs 200 per litre.

    Dr Surya Prasad Bhusal, chief of the District Hospital, said they are forced to refer patients in need of X-Ray service to elsewhere as the hospital’s machine is not able to operate without electricity.

    The contractors have been blamed for delaying reconstruction of the hydropower. According to an agreement with the contractor Netraraj Shahi on April 2, the reconstruction work was to be completed by July 3. But only about 20 percent of work have reportedly been completed so far, said Jaya Prasad Pandey, acting chief of the district branch of Nepal Electricity Authority.

    The hydropower had been providing electricity to 1,650 houses in the areas.

    Source : The Kathmandu Post