Forgot your password?
Cutting Off Power Line, Fuel Shortage, And Local Level Elections
Cutting Off Power Line, Fuel Shortage, And Local Level Elections
KTM Metro Reporter
Kathmandu, August 23, 2016:
Cutting Off Power Line
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) started off sanpping the power line connecting the customers that have kept a large amount of electricity bills unpaid. So, NEA has cut off the power line of 250 customers, and has collected NPR 30 millions out of the total amount of NPR 9 billions remained to be collected from the customers, as the chief executive of NEA told the news anchor of the Radio Nepal on the morning of August 23, 2016.
On August 23, 2016, in the ’gorkhapatra,’ NEA published a notice to the customers such as hospitals, and State agencies of the government of Nepal providing common folks with basic services giving seven days time to pay off the power bills, and also warned of cutting off the power line without a notice if the electricity dues are not cleared off on time. NEA chief said that NEA would not have a choice but to snap the power supply to those hospitals and agencies not paying the remaining electricity dues within the period.
NEA Kathmandu branch has severed the power line supplying electricity to the Narayanhity Palace Museum causing blackout to the museum including the Mahendra manjil where Ratna Shah: the wife of former King Mahendra had been allowed to live in after the government took over the Narayanhity palace complex and turned it to a museum. Old lady Ratna Shah had to spend a night without light, and had to send the security guards to buy candles to illuminate the bungalow on the Sunday evening, August 21, 2016.
Next day, NEA restored the power line to the Narayanhity Palace Museum including the Mahendra manjil after the Ministry of Energy assured the NEA of paying the unpaid power bills. The total unpaid power bills had been amounted to NPR 4.3 millions since 2011, according to the news in ‘gorkhapatra’ of today.
The Nepalese private media have been reporting as if the power cut has been only to the Mahendra manjil, and the unpaid bill is only of the manjil, and after 24 hours the government has restored the power supply to the manjil due to the pressure from the public. The private media ignored the entire Narayanhity Palace Museum the State has been running.
Fuel Shortage
Starting on Sunday, August 21, 2016, private gasoline pumps have been running half-heartedly causing a crowd of gas fillers at the gas stations.
Minister for Supply have instructed the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to ease the supply of petroleum products so that customers will not need to line up for a few liters of gas.
The prime minister in turn instructed the supply minister to look into the fuel shortage in Kathmandu. However, the long line of filling the vehicle tanks at gas stations has continued. Some gas stations have posted notices stating “no petrol.”
Replying to the questions of the news anchor of the Radio Nepal today in the morning, the leader of the Consumers’ Association said that the private gas stations along with the officials of the NOC have created an artificial shortage of fuel to make money. He also urged the consumers not to buy gas more than what they actually needed as it was not a real shortage but an artificial one. As the consumers for fearing of having no gasoline usually buy more than what they need and store dangerously at home sometimes causing harm to the human lives.
And Local Level Elections
On August 22, 2016, speaking at the two-day interaction meeting with the district presidents of the NC in Kathmandu, President of NC Sher Bahadur Deuba said that nobody could avoid the elections to the local level bodies; elections will be held at any cost. Concerning the boundaries and number of village councils and municipalities, NC alone will not decide but discuss with all the political parties to settle the boundaries and number of local level bodies, the news in ‘gorkhapatra’ of August 23, 2016 stated.
The local media and some of the CPN-UML leaders have been saying that President of NC Deuba has been for holding elections to the local bodies following their old structures. The truth is that NC had vehemently opposed the elections the previous Oli government had prepared to hold the elections to the local bodies following the old structures as such elections would be going against the Constitution.
The district presidents of NC at their interaction program held in Kathmandu have demanded to increase the number of the village councils and municipalities from 565 the Local Body Structuring Commission has proposed to more than one thousands so that they would represent proportionally to the population in Terai, and geographically in the mountains and hills where the population is widely scattered.
The standing Committee meeting of CPN-UML continued at the Dhumbarahi party office in Kathmandu on Monday, August 22, 2016 urged the Local Body Structuring Commission to make the number of local level bodies that would suit the population if necessary increasing a few number of them from the proposed 565 Village Councils and Municipalities created from 217 municipalities and 3,145 Village Development Committees.
Prime Minister Prachanda visited the Election Commission on August 22, 2016, and assured the officials of the commission the government’s cooperation and assistance as required by the commission for holding the local level elections in February/March 2017, and also said that the government is committed to hold the elections.
The Election Commission has warned of not changing the boundaries of the wards while drawing the boundaries of village councils and municipalities, as changing the boundaries of the wards would mean the fresh collections of the voters’ names. Local Body Restructuring Commission has been struggling to come up with a new number of village councils and municipalities acceptable to all stakeholders.
