It is indeed like an irony that Nepal is very rich on water resources and it has 7 of the top ten highest mountain peaks in the world but when it comes to providing electricity for the ordinary people, the government is helpless. Well, Nepal is not a rich country and it cannot afford to invest heavily on the energy sector. There have been reports in the media that there is no respite for the ordinary people for at least one decade- until 2019. The government of the country has taken an ambitious plan: to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years.
Of course, this will take a huge investment and I am not sure from where the government is planning to get the money. Those who are behind the plan are expecting to get around one third of money from international investors. Well, the ordinary people are praying desperately for something like this for a long time. In dry season, the electricity production becomes even less and in some areas, there is no electricity for 12-16 hours.
(This entry was first published in March 2009. Because of a technical problem, the entry had to be deleted and I am reposting again now.)