Kathmandu: The government has forwarded activities making a special plan for upgrading the power system in the hilly districts of Karnali and Sudur Paschim provinces.

A loan agreement was signed with the Asian Development Bank recently for the construction of the 132-KV Kohalpur-Surkhet transmission line in order to provide electricity to Karnali Province districts.

A high voltage transmission line is going to be constructed by upgrading the existing 33-KV transmission line. Although the transmission line from Kohalpur-Surkhet has 33-KV capacity, the transmission line from Surkhet to Kalikot has only 11-KV capacity, resulting in massive disruption in power supply during monsoon due to the low-capacity transmission line.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has forwarded a strategic plan with the support of donor agencies to resolve this problem. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has set a target to provide electricity service in the districts that do not have access to the central transmission line.

The ministry has directed the NEA to work making a special package in order to provide electricity service to every house of the country. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has also expressed commitment not to let a means and resources crunch in the upgrading and expansion of the transmission lines of Karnali Province.

A study is currently being carried out for the construction of an additional 220-KV transmission line linking Dailekh of Surkhet to Jumla. The NEA is going to invest Rs 25 billion for the same. A package has been made in order to carry out activities at government investment in Dolpa.

Executive Director of NEA, Kulman Ghising said that necessary works have been expedited in other districts by taking concessional loans from the European Investment Bank and AAIB. Only 43 per cent of the population of Karnali Province has access to electricity.

The NEA has given special priority keeping this situation of Karnali province in mind, shared Ghising. Similarly, out of 547,671 households in Sudur Paschim Province, 71.07 per cent households have access to the central transmission line.