Kathmandu Valley to Become Nepal’s First Open-Wire Free Space

The Nepal Government has begun the works for making Nepal an ‘open-wire free’ country.

The government will commence wiring works for Bharatpur, Kathmandu and Lalitpur in the first phase of the project.

The electricity wires will be laid underground and is to reach every house. According to the Nepal Electrical Authority (NEA), the work will be completed in three phases. The NEA had earlier planned to replace all the open wires with optical fibers.

The project will first cover all the three districts in the Kathmandu Valley and will then be extended to the other parts of the country, said the NEA.

Currently, the work to lay electricity wires underground in Ratnapark, Kathmandu and Mahargunj is in the survey stage of the instrument-examination phase. The work is being undertaken by the Indian contractor company AEI Industries, who started the work after receiving funds within the deadlines.

The AEI will be laying the transmission line of 11 kv for close to 400 km in Ratnapark and 400 v for about 350 km in Kathmandu.

In the Kathmandu urban area, the wires providing services such as cable, internet and telephone are found hanging overhead.

NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising says that laying the wires underground will reduce the instances of accidents and will uplift the look of the city, besides ensuring an effective supply of electricity.