Industrial production halted due to electricity outage

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT Bhairahawa, May 2: Industrialists have complained that the unannounced power cut in Rupandehi has halted production.

The industrialists of Rupandehi, who have been facing power shortage for the past one month, have been suffering from unannounced load shedding of up to 24 hours for a few days.

Bhishma Prasad Neupane, president of the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Rupandehi, said that unannounced power cuts have been taking place in the industries of 33 kV and 11 kV industrial corridors for the past few days.

Neupane said that the unannounced load shedding in the industries had damaged the raw materials of the industries, created shortage of goods in the market and there is fear of price rise. "When the currency reserves are low, the money to buy diesel also goes abroad and various kinds of losses have to be borne, which has led to the closure of industries," he said.

The Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also drawn the attention of the Nepal Electricity Authority System Operation Department, Electricity Office Butwal Grid Branch and Distribution Centre Bhairahawa, Butwal and Nayamil citing that the operation of the industry has come to a standstill due to 24-hour power cut in the industry.

The industry had been receiving electricity for 12 hours daily for the past one month but now it has not received electricity for a whole day.

Deepak Kumar Poudel, vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Lumbini Province, expressed his concern that the supply chain would be disrupted due to non-operation of the industry.

He said, "If the industry is not able to operate, there may be price rise, there will be a need to import goods, which will also increase the trade deficit."

According to the industrialists, more than two dozen industries in the Lumbini corridor of Rupandehi and more than a dozen industries in the Bhairahawa-Butwal area are now closed. Chief of Nepal Electricity Authority Bhairahawa Distribution Centre Awadhesh Kumar Dube said that there was a problem in the industry due to power supply problems.

He said, "We will distribute the electricity available in the system. It is not undeclared that electricity is irregular as there is no supply as per the demand of the industries."