By IANS
Kathmandu : Even as Nepal’s electricity authorities slapped a daily eight-hour power outage with a warning that it would go up in a fortnight, transporters threatened to start a transport strike from Sunday after talks with the government to resolve the fuel shortage broke down.
From Friday, the state-run Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) began imposing an eight-hour power cut daily in place of the six-hour cut that had prevailed till January, saying it was necessary since a major power station had to be shut down for repairs.
The NEA also warned that the scarcity could worsen in the dry season that starts from March when the outage could go up to 11 hours daily.
The deepening power scarcity has hit Nepal’s industrial sector with factories forced to slash production and several being forced to close down.
In addition, transporters have warned they would start an indefinite transport strike nationwide since the government has not been able to provide petro-products despite hiking fuel prices.
The continuing fuel scarcity is due to the increasing dues Nepal owes its sole supplier, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has been running a loss of millions of rupees due to its policy of subsidising fuel. With the cash-strapped government recently deciding to withdraw its subsidy, the NOC has been unable to pay IOC, resulting in the latter slashing fuel supplies to Nepal.
Last month NOC announced a hike in diesel, kerosene and cooking gas prices but was forced to roll back the hike after furious public protests erupted on the streets.