Gandaki. The project has made 60 per cent physical progress so far.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s Pokhara-Bharatpur Distribution System Strengthening Project, the work has been intensified with the aim of completing it by coming April. In the initial phase, the construction company delayed the construction work, which led to poor progress of the project.

Chief engineer of the project, Ananda Subedi, said that the contractor company has expressed commitment to complete the works within the deadline. The project was awarded a two-year contract in January 2078 BS but the work of the project had started from April 2080. Since then, the contract has been extended twice, said engineer Subedi. The Indian company Tata Projects had taken the contract for the project to lay the electric wire in Pokhara and Bharatpur for Rs 2.5 billion.

It is said Rs 1.30 billion will be spent to upgrade the underground wire and distribution system in Pokhara. Subedi said that electricity has been distributed to the households by laying wire from the entrance of Pokhara International Airport to Seti Bridge at Prithvi Chowk. According to him, the work of laying the wire from Sirjana Chowk to the auditorium and zero kilometer area and Jarebar area of Lakeside is going on.

Under the project, the wires will be installed underground from the main highway of Pokhara International Airport to zero kilometer via Kundaharchowk, Amarsingh Chowk, Prithvi Chowk, Srijana Chowk, Rastra Bank Chowk, Lakeside, City Hall, New Road and Chipledhunga among other areas. According to the project office, the wires will be laid from the main road to the auxiliary road. Along with the electricity lines, optical fibre will also be laid for telephone, cable and internet cables.

“The works to lay wire in lanes 15, 16 and 17 of Lakeside have already been completed,” Subedi said, adding, “Work on New Road and Chipledhunga is yet to be started.” ’

According to him, the construction company which had delayed the work citing various reasons before this has expedited the work after Tihar. Though the work was started late due to the delay in engineering, design and equipment procurement, the project had been slowed down in the recent period due to the negligence of the contractors.

The NEA has launched the distribution system strengthening project to make Pokhara free of electric wires. Engineer Subedi said more machines and equipment are used than human resources in the project. The wires are to be laid underground in the major urban areas of tourist city Pokhara and places frequented by tourists.

NEA is also supplying electricity to the homes of the customers after laying the wires underground. NEA has been using the technology to lay wire on the road in a way to minimize damage. Engineer Subedi said that the wire was laid underground by digging the road using horizontal directional drilling technology. After installing the wires underground, transformers will be installed at various places to supply electricity to the homes of the customers, according to NEA.

It is believed that the installation of underground power lines will free Pokhara from unmanaged wires and poles and enhance the urban beauty. According to NEA, the underground wires are more efficient and reliable, so the underground system is suitable to handle the increasing demand of customers and the pressure of electricity. NEA has been implementing the plan to lay underground wires in big cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bharatpur.