Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The work of installing underground electric wires within the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) area is to be forwarded in coordination with the Nepal Electricity Authority and Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

NEA Director and KMC Public Works Department have been assigned to carry out necessary monitoring and coordination to resolve the problems seen in the field.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and Urban Development Kulman Ghising on Sunday held discussion with NEA managing director, project chief, metropolis representatives and contractors regarding delay in repairing road after completion of road construction.

On the occasion, Minister Ghising requested to complete the underground wires inside Kathmandu before the beginning of the rainy season and to start removing the overhead wires in the places by coordinating with the internet, telephone and television service providers.

“I am looking after the responsibility of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, I have held discussions with the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City to forward the work of laying underground wires in the remaining areas. He directed to immediately carry out the repair and maintenance of the road seen in the field after the completion of the construction work.

NEA Executive Officer Manoj Silwal said the NRA will forward the construction work in coordination with the Department of Roads and local governments. According to Silwal, the supply of electricity through underground wires has already started in the areas where the work has been completed and the overheaving would be removed gradually.

In the first phase, the NEA has started work in areas under Ratnapark and Maharajgunj distribution centers to upgrade and automate the electricity distribution system in the Kathmandu Valley.

In the second phase, works will be started in the remaining places of Kathmandu, in the third phase in the urban areas of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, and in the fourth phase, the work of underground, strengthening and automating the distribution system in Pokhara and Bharatpur metropolitan cities. The construction progress of the Kathmandu Valley is around 80 percent.

Under this, 33,000 and 11,000 voltage and 400 voltage underground lines will be constructed and optical fibers will also be laid. This will end the ugliness of the city and add beauty to the tangled wires of electricity, telephone, and internet service providers. The underground system will be safer than the existing overhead distribution system, and the beauty of the wire mesh that is making the city ugly can be maintained. Technology has been used to minimize damage to the road while carrying out underground work.

Arrangements have been made to work at night without affecting the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on the road. Appropriate mitigation measures have been made to prevent the citizens from being affected by the dust emitted during the digging of the road. Arrangements have been made to repair the damaged roads within 10 days.