Flood-damaged Khimti transmission line to be brought into operation

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct. 21: The tower of Khimti-Lamosanghu 132 kV transmission line, which was swept away by the flood in the Tamakoshi River in the wake of incessant rains of September 28-29, will be brought into operation using the emergency restoration system (ESR) tower.

Tower No. 7 of the Khimti-Lamosanghu transmission line at Devitar in Manthali Municipality-13 of Ramechhap was swept away by the flood in the Tamakoshi River. After the tower collapsed, the wires (conductors) of four towers were also damaged. 

After the tower was washed away, the electricity supply from the line has been stopped since September 29. Due to this, the transmission line link from Khimti to Kathmandu Valley is broken. About 200 megawatts of electricity can flow from the said line.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the Khimti-Lamosanghu transmission line is an important transmission line for electricity supply to Kathmandu Valley. 

Similarly, the electricity of the hydropower projects built in the Bhotekoshi River area of Sindhupalchowk is being exported to India via Lamosanghu-Khimti-Dhalkebar line. 

Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said, "The reliability of the electricity system has been affected due to the closure of the Khimti-Lamosanghu transmission line, and the electricity export to India has also been affected. Now, we are going to use the emergency restoration system (ERS) structure to bring the line into operation as soon as possible." 

He said that another permanent tower will be built instead of the tower washed away by the flood. The Authority is going to bring the Khimti-Lamosanghu 132 kV transmission line into operation using the ERS structure it has, he said. 

The ERS tower has been installed for this. When the ERS tower was about to be installed, the locals had blocked the work demanding compensation.

In the presence of Minister of State for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Purna Bahadur Tamang, Chief District Officer of Ramechhap and others, the operation of ESR was started from October 18 after reaching an agreement with the locals. 

The extension of wire has started after the installation of the ERS tower, said Manohar Sah, chief of Khimti Grid Sector of NEA. He said that wire extension work at the installed ERS tower would take about four days.