Kathmandu. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has made special preparations to ensure reliable, regular and quality power supply to consumers during the Tihar and Chhath festivals.

Arrangements have been made to keep the generation, transmission and distribution systems efficient and to keep the technical staff on standby round the clock to avoid any disruption in power supply during the festival of lights.

A meeting of the senior management team was held under the chairmanship of NEA’s Executive Director Longevity Kumar Shrestha for the regular operation and supply management of the electricity system during the Tihar and Chhath festivals. The meeting discussed the preparations made to ease the power supply during the festival, operation of the system and management of possible challenges.

Likewise, a virtual meeting was held with the chiefs of the System Operation Department (LDC), Grid Operation Department and provincial and provincial division offices under the Distribution and Customer Service Directorate to discuss and coordinate on electricity supply management, monitoring of the system and mobilization of required human resources.

Executive Director Shrestha has directed the concerned office chiefs to make all necessary preparations to prevent disruption in power supply during the festival. He directed the technical team to be ready to repair and resume the service immediately if there is any problem in the power supply.

Similarly, the remaining works of inspection and maintenance of transmission lines and distribution systems have been completed immediately and possible disruptions in power supply have been minimized. The concerned office chiefs have also been directed to regularly pick up the calls received in the no-light service and make the complaint management effective to address the complaints related to electricity supply immediately.

It is estimated that the maximum demand for electricity will be around 1,700 MW on the evening of Laxmi Puja of Tihar. Executive Director Shrestha said that domestic generation will be sufficient to meet this demand. It is estimated that electricity generation will be around 2,500 MW during this period. He said that there will be enough electricity to facilitate the supply of electricity as the production will be more than the internal demand.

Continuous coordination will be made between the LDCs, the Grid Operation Department and the distribution centers to regularly monitor the demand and supply situation of electricity during the festival. Necessary technical and managerial preparations have been made to identify the possible problems in the system in time and solve them immediately.

Meanwhile, the NEA has urged consumers to use electricity safely during the Tihar and Chhath festivals. The NEA has requested to check the condition of electrical appliances and wires used in the house, not to use substandard electrical appliances and repair them only by skilled technicians if there is a problem in the electricity leakage or wires.

NEA has urged the consumers to contact the nearest distribution center or related ‘no light’ service in case of any problem or complaint related to power supply.