Agricultural electrification abandoned, farmers’ land left dry

By Janarjan Khatri,Sarlahi, Feb. 9: Agricultural electrification for irrigation in Brahmapuri Rural Municipality, Sarlahi, has remained abandoned for a long time, leaving farmers in distress.

The rural municipality has completed installing electric poles, hanging wires and setting up transformers. However, since the electricity connection has not been provided, farmers have been unable to utilise agricultural electrification. 

The project has been left in limbo due to blame-shifting between the rural municipality office and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Malangwa Distribution Centre.

As Brahmapuri Rural Municipality lacks canals and irrigation facilities, farmers have been hoping for irrigation access through agricultural electrification.

Fakira Ray, a farmer from Brahmapuri Rural Municipality–6, expressed his grievances, stating that they can grow only one crop a year due to dependence on rainwater. 

“It is difficult to do farming without water. We can only harvest one crop with rainfall,” said Ray. “We are eagerly waiting for the electricity to be operational soon.”

Ray, who owns three bighas of land, is hopeful that once agricultural electrification is implemented, he will be able to install a motor to ease farming. 

The project was initiated five years ago through the rural municipality’s plan and the budget from the Electoral Constituency Development Programme.

Shyam Sundar Yadav, a farmer from Brahmapuri Rural Municipality–7 and former ward chairperson, highlighted that increasing droughts each year and the failure of the multi-million-rupee electrification project have severely impacted them.

“Ninety-five per cent of the rural municipality’s population is engaged in agriculture, but without a drop of rain, no crops can be grown,” said Yadav.

Yadav, who owns eight bighas of land, mentioned that if electricity is provided, he plans to install tube wells to grow three crops a year. 

The rural municipality itself had called for tenders and carried out the agricultural electrification project through contractors.

Chairperson of Brahmapuri Rural Municipality, Ram Padarath Sah Teli, informed that the Nepal Electricity Authority Malangwa Distribution Centre is making excuses by insisting on checking the quality of poles and wires before providing the electricity connection. 

“The rural municipality has done its part by electrifying farmers’ fields within our budget, but the electricity authority refuses to connect the power supply, claiming they need to inspect the poles and wires first,” said Chairperson Sah. 

“I even approached NEA’s Managing Director, Kulman Ghising, to address the issue, but no solution has been reached yet.”

Chairperson Sah believes that if the electricity authority supplies electricity, Brahmapuri Rural Municipality will emerge as a model in the agricultural sector in Sarlahi. 

According to him, approximately Rs. 50 million has already been spent on agricultural electrification within the rural municipality.

Although electrification would enable irrigation, allowing farmers to produce three crops a year and revolutionise the agricultural sector, the electricity authority is creating hurdles by citing various technical complications, said Chairperson Sah.

Umesh Yadav, head of the NEA Malangwa Distribution Centre, clarified that the rural municipality executed the electrification project through its budget and tender process, but electricity cannot be supplied until the authority supervises the work. 

“According to NEA regulations, the rural municipality must first obtain a meter. Then, we will inspect the poles and wires before proceeding with the power line connection as per the rules,” said Yadav.

The distribution centre chief said that the rural municipality must submit detailed documents, including purchase records of poles, wires, and transformers before NEA can deploy its technical team for supervision and line inspection. 

He also accused the rural municipality of causing delays, stressing that since the government has made a significant investment in electrification, it is necessary to complete the required documentation for meter installation.