Humla: Electricity services have been disrupted for the past two weeks in Simkot, the headquarters of Humla, as well as in Kharpunath Rural Municipality, leaving both areas without regular power supply.
According to a notice issued by the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Heldung Distribution Center, electricity supply was halted after a problem developed in the governor of Unit-9 operating at the power house.
The prolonged power outage has severely affected government and non-government offices, health institutions, banks and financial institutions, media outlets, businesses and the daily lives of local residents.
Around 2,500 electricity consumers in Simkot and Kharpunath have reportedly been directly affected by the disruption and have been forced to live without electricity.
Local resident Kamal Bhandari said the prolonged outage has created difficulties ranging from charging mobile phones to accessing the internet and operating essential electrical equipment.
He said the lack of a reliable alternative electricity supply in the remote Himalayan district means that even a relatively small technical problem at the power house can affect a large area.
Local residents have called on the authorities to make immediate alternative arrangements to restore electricity services.
According to Jitendra Shah, chief of the distribution center, the entire electricity supply from the center was shut down after a fault developed in the project’s main control system.
Shah said the faulty governor of Unit-9 is no longer functioning and that the required equipment has been requested from neighboring China.
The extended power outage has raised concerns among residents over the lack of an immediate backup system in one of Nepal’s most remote Himalayan districts.
