The state-run Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is enforcing a nationwide load-shedding for two- and-a-half hours per household once a week from Sept. 1, according to chief of NEA's Load Dispatching Center Sher Singh Bhat.

The outage is taking place as one of the three turbines of the 144 megawatt Kaligandaki "A" project, some 250 km west of Kathmandu, the biggest hydroelectric power plant so far constructed in the country, is being shut down for repairs that will require two months time, Bhat said.

Besides, the heavy downpour in recent days could not adequately raise the water level at the Kulekhani reservoir, he told reporters on Thursday.

The Kulekhani project is the only reliable source of power in the country in dry season. The reservoir is replenished for use in the dry season.

Source: Xinhua