Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will remove unmanaged and mostly overhead internet wires in Pokhara. The authority has completed 60% of the work of laying cables underground and will now proceed to cable management.
NEA has been implementing the Pokhara-Bharatpur Distribution System Strengthening Project to lay electricity cables underground.
Ananda Subedi, head of the Pokhara-Bharatpur Distribution System Strengthening Project, said that work is currently underway to lay underground electricity cables in the area from Pokhara International Airport, Prithvi Chowk, Srijana Chowk, Ratna Chowk, Rastra Bank Chowk-Shahid Chowk-Lakeside-Hallan Chowk-Bulaudi, and up to zero kilometers. He said that so far, 65% of the work is complete. Work in the New Road area will start after a while.
“Work has been completed in the area from the Kundahar substation, the source of Pokhara’s electricity, to the airport gate in the east and Seti Bridge in the west. The remaining areas are yet to be charged with lines, while work has been progressing rapidly in other areas recently,” said Project Chief Subedi. NEA is cooperating with Tata Projects to lay wires underground in Pokhara, covering 23 kilometers. The whole project in Pokhara is estimated to be worth Rs 1.70 billion.
Project Chief Subedi said that the wires were laid underground by digging the road using the ‘horizontal directional drilling’ technology. Electricity has been supplied to the customers by placing transformers at various places. The authority believes that laying cables underground in Pokhara will free the city from messy cables on poles.
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Pokhara Metro to remove overhead internet wires
With NEA’s project of laying cables underground taking a pace, Pokhara Metropolitan is preparing to remove unmanaged overhead internet wires from the poles. The local body government is discussing with internet service providers for the same. It has urged internet service providers (ISPs) to remove unnecessary internet cables from utility poles. The process also involves removing cables for electricity, cable television, etc.
The city’s mayor, Dhanraj Acharya, said that service providers have been requested to coordinate with NEA and cooperate for Pokhara’s cable management. He said, “The Electricity Authority is currently working according to the plan to make the Pokhara market area wireless. We have requested internet service providers to cooperate in this work. If they do not remove them, the metropolis will remove them itself,” he said.
The project’s deadline is June 31, 2026, while it started in 2022 after assessing the design, geography, etc. A similar project in Bharatpur is running at a budget of Rs 1.30 billion, with 74% of completion so far.
The overhead wires have affected the beauty of the city and occasionally cause threats of fire during peak hours. Having them placed underneath the ground will keep the city clean of messy and entangled cables and contribute to a cleaner and more visible cityscape.
