The reduction of load-shedding from 108 hours to 96 hours a week does not bring any substantial change to the lives of Nepalis. After all, power outages have merely been brought down from 16 to 14 hours per day. The two extra hours of power mostly come on in the dead of night, when a majority of the country’s inhabitants are already asleep. But still, the very fact that blackouts have decreased, however insignificantly, provides a psychological boost to the nation’s citizens, giving a sense that the worst is over, and that at least this year, things are going to get better.

Nepal witnessed the worst power cuts in recent history this year. This caused severe inconveniences to the country, leading to the closure of industry, decline in productivity and extreme difficulty in carrying out domestic chores. The government was no doubt correct in appreciating the scale of the crisis by labelling it an “emergency”. The most curious fact about the load-shedding, however, was the psychological impact it had on the country’s citizens. Initially resentful and distraught at the hardship posed by the crisis, there gradually developed a sense of quiet resignation.

The perpetual power outages almost came to seem normal. So when people went home in the evening to discover that they had power for a few hours, or when the lights came back on when they were supposed to be out according to the schedule, their spirits were lifted. Electricity, which everyone had considered to be a basic necessity, gave rise to feelings of great comfort and luxury.

This year, the worst power cuts coincided with a period when a revolutionary party, with grand visions for economic development, is at the helm of the country. When the crisis arose, the government thus announced that it would take measures never before taken in Nepal to bring an end to the power crisis. In the immediate future, it stated, it would establish diesel-operated thermal plants.

The idea was widely ridiculed, and after the government realised that it was unfeasible, it shelved the plan. The reduction in load-shedding that has recently taken place could happen not because of any new and innovative plan, but through continuing policies that had already been established by previous governments. The long-awaited Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Project recently came into operation. The government is now taking measures to repair the transmission lines between India and Nepal that had been damaged in the Koshi floods. But while the idea of installing thermal power plants was revealed to be unfeasible, this does not mean that all innovative ideas for electricity generation should be similarly impractical. There is, in fact, a great need for innovative ideas, just not hasty and ill-conceived ones. The recent experience should be a lesson to the government.

Let us hope that the next time around, they will consult widely and take the advice of as wide a range of experts as possible. This should help them come up with various original policies that will indeed lead to their goal of ending all power cuts by next year.

The Kathmandu Post