6 May, Bhaktapur : The general public in most of the parts of Bhaktapur municipality are forced to live under darkness due to delay in the maintenance of electric poles dislodged by the massive earthquake.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is yet to ensure smooth electricity service in Suryamadhi, Golmadhi and Inachol areas in the inner city aggravating the woes of the residents.
The residents complain that the government and the municipality have failed to remove the debris of the collapsed buildings and the listing electricity poles in the areas. The NEA has been claiming that it has not been able to undertake repair works of the fallen power structures due to delay in removing the ruins.
Narayan Prasad Kanwa, a local of Golmadhi, Bhaktapur-7 said the lack of power has further aggravated the problems of the locals. He said the locals had repeatedly called on the NEA to repair the transmission line.
Another local Bishnu Prasad Prajapati of Bhaktapur-8 said the government’s slowness in removing the fallen structures would take longer time and added that lack of power had caused a major problem to the citizens. “Not only the electricity, we are facing problems of fresh drinking water, we have appealed to the concerned authorities and we have been told that difficulty in repairing the transmission line was due to the obstruction by the demolished structures,” Prajapati said.
Likewise, Saraswoti Dulal of Suryamadhi-9 said the locals were deprived of electricity and drinking water 10 days after earthquake. Dulal appealed to the government to urgently fix the problem of power and drinking water.
NEA Bhaktapur section employee Shyam Krishna Bataju said the earthquake had damaged the electric poles in the city and lines were snapped affecting the transmission of power.
He added that the NEA was working to restore power at the earliest and expressed confidence that the power would be restored in the city in a few days.
Victims yet to receive relief shipments
The locals in many areas are yet to receive relief materials promised to them by the government.
Local resident Kanwa said the people had not even received Rs 40,000 the government had pledged for cremation purpose.
Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) including various organizations have been distributing noodles, rice, beaten rice and other relief materials to the locals. The locals claim that the effort is not enough to address the problems of all the victims in the district.
The locals have appealed to the government to urgently manage tarpaulins and tents along with food commodities for the quake victims. RSS
