Mountain. Locals have demanded the operation of an air power project in a remote village here, which has been stuck for nearly two decades.

The technology to extract electricity from the wind built at an investment of crores of rupees at The Iron Mine of Mahashila Rural Municipality-6 has been stuck due to lack of maintenance. The wind power, which was established two decades ago, has been passing through the lack of maintenance from time to time. No electricity has been generated from the centre. The locals have demanded repairs as the goods connected there have become useless.

Locals have demanded the reopening of the wind power plant, which is extracting electricity from the wind. Established in 2060 BS, the centre was closed in 2063 BS after three years.

TTBG had constructed the wind power project with an investment of more than Rs 10 million. Thakur Rasaili, a local, said that the wind energy project has been stuck after it was closed within a year due to lack of protection and maintenance. The investment in it has also sunk, he said.

According to Ward Chair of Iron Mine Govinda Bishwakarma, the wind power was installed due to excessive wind on the hill of Iron Mine Dhaden located at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level. Hundreds of households, including iron mines, sparrows, and others, have been consuming electricity since the operation of wind power. However, Bishwakarma said that he had to sit in the lurch at the moment.

Locals have urged the concerned authorities to proceed with the project. He said that the work of the project on the hill, which can also be measured in the air, can be carried forward by re-examining it.

Chairman Bishwakarma said that the district coordination committee, the Ministry of Energy and others have been asked to generate electricity again from the scheme and expand it to all the households in the village.

According to a report prepared by the United Nations Environment Program, 3,000 MW of electricity can be generated from wind in Nepal. The project was generating about 12 kilowatts of electricity. According to locals, around 300 households in Falamkhani and residents of neighbouring wards Bhangara and Pakhapani will also be directly benefited if the wind power project is reconstructed.

The rural municipality is preparing to prepare a re-operation action plan after conducting a detailed study on the wind power project, said chairperson Ishwori Bhusal. He said that the project would be managed from the current fiscal year.