NEA new power tariff panel soon

Kathmandu,Nepal

The Energy Ministry is set to form a new commission to fix electricity tariff, officials said. The new commission will replace a similar body formed in 1994 under the Electricity Tariff Fixation Rules. “The new committee will be formed within a month,” said a source.

The existing panel, which last recommended a 100 per cent hike in 2001, had a tiff with then Energy Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, a member of the Madhav Kumar Nepal Cabinet, after it stood against a tariff hike that the minister had proposed. Restructuring of Nepal Electricity Authority is the precondition to any hike, the seven-member panel under former water resources secretary Mahendra Nath Aryal had said.

The government’s intentions to do away with the old commission became evident as the Jhala Nath Khanal government presented a special document at the Parliament on March 23, which declared a power crisis in the country and pledged to dissolve the tariff commission.

The culture of agriculture

SURYA ADHIKARI

No one inspired me, I inspired myself. I taught myself about soil nutrients. My neighbours thought I was mad because I used to go into town to collect the hair from barbershops and bones from slaughter houses, grind and spread them out as fertiliser. I learnt as I went along.

Once, in Gulmi I saw they were growing coffee. I brought back 12 bushes and today Begnas Coffee is famous, we produce 22 tons of beans a year. But it wasn't easy, during the 1990 democracy movement, the highways was closed for more than a week and all my chicken died on the way to market. I lost Rs 100,000 and went bankrupt. But out of adversity comes opportunity. I met the specialists from LI-BIRD and they taught me about sustainable agriculture and crop biodiversity.

I have learnt that the most important thing is to follow nature's rules. You can't go wrong if you do that. You have to protect the soil, that is the most important thing. This doesn't just mean stopping erosion, it means not poisoning it with chemicals, it means replenishing the soil's natural nutrients. Increasing food production is not going to be enough, we have to protect our soil and the agriculture biodiversity that god has bestowed on this land. We have to protect the soil, air and water cycle.

25 Years : Journalism for Sustainability

Kathmandu,Nepal

Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, President of Nepal, praised the 25 years of continued efforts of the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) on environmental awareness, conservation, and sustainable development during a visit by NEFEJ officials and members on January 7, 2011 at President's Office, Maharajgunj. The purpose of the visit was to inform him about the activities, achievements and plans of NEFEJ.

Laxman Upreti, president led the team of NEFEJ members, environmentalists and conservationists, environmental journalists and editors. Mr. Upreti handed over a memorandum, a video documentary, and NEFEJ publications to President Dr. Yadav. The memorandum drew the attention of Dr. Yadav on issues of environment, conservation, and sustainable development, particularly Siwalik (Churia) conservation. Similarly, the video documentary highlighted the major activities of NEFEJ since its inception. The publications included books and other materials published by NEFEJ.

Mr. Upreti also briefed Dr. Yadav about the efforts of NEFEJ in Siwalik Conservation and in drawing the attention of people in the conservation efforts, and its role in raising awareness for its conservation. NEFEJ had carried out the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) project to develop strengthened institutional capacity of local environment based NGOs, and had supported conservation efforts of Churia based NGOs.

Electric future

Gagan Thapa

Kathmandu,Nepal 

Anyone who looks at the figures should be worried. Nepal produces only 600MW of power and demand is 800MW. Since most projects are non-storage type, generation capacity depends on the flow of the rivers. Even in the monsoon, the rivers generate only 692 MW, and with energy demand rising at 80 MW a year, power rationing is here to stay for at least three more years. In fact, there may only be power for three hours a day in coming winters. Load-shedding is no just a nuisance to consumers, the fall in productivity and increase in diesel imports is ruining the economy. 

The government has declared an energy emergency up to December 2015 during which period it hopes to fast track projects to generate 2,500 MW of additional power, including from reservoir projects. Parliament's Committee on Natural Resources, of which I am a member, has just completed a detailed study and has made some recommendations in a preliminary report.

At present, hydropower development is stymied by inadequate incentives for domestic and foreign investors, poor governance at the regulating agencies and line ministry. Politicisation of the NEA has now reached unprecedented levels: there are 13 unions affiliated to various parties in the NEA. Even if there is enough generation capacity, there isn't the transmission capacity to take the power to consumers. NEA's monopoly in generation, transmission and distribution has hindered competition and hampered efficiency. Some projects are being delayed because their environmental impact assessment isn't complete.

Energy minister Bista cuts off power supply to errant govt offices

Kathmandu,Nepal

The Nepal Electricity Authority on Wednesday started cutting off the electricity supply to the government offices that did not pay the huge bills due for a long.Energy Minister Gokarna Bista himself came to the fore and started the ‘pressure campaign’ by switching off the power supply to the Department of Roads at Babarmahal and the Singha Durbar Secretariat Reconstruction Committee (SDSR).

Energy Secretary Balananda Paudel and newly appointed Managing Director of the NEA Dipendra Sharma had accompanied the minister. The Energy Ministry had issued a public notice in July, asking the ministries to clear the bills. Many defaulters had cleared the dues and about 70 per cent of the pending payment was made by the 15-day deadline that expired yesterday.

The DoR owes Rs 760‚000 while the SDSR has dues of Rs 358‚000 to the NEA.According to the NEA, the Home Ministry, with dues amounting to Rs 17.5 crores, is the biggest defaulter among the ministries. Not lagging far behind are the Health and Peace and Reconstruction Ministries with dues amounting to Rs 15.2 crores and Rs 13.6 crores, respectively.