By Santosh Raut, Solukhumbu, Mar. 3: Salleri, the district headquarters of the Himalayan district of Solukhumbu, has become load-shedding free as it is now linked with the national transmission line.

Due to the initiative taken up by the Solududhkunda Municipality, the national transmission line has been added to the Chialsa mini-hydro project.

The Central transmission line has been connected at the cost of Rs. four million to the Chialsa mini-hydro project which had the capacity to generate 370 kilowatts.  

The General Manager of Chialsa Mini Hydro Project, Bhojraj Tiwari, said that the project that came to life in 1991 has 33 percent investment from the Swiss Government, another 33 percent was provided by the Nepal Electricity Authority and the rest was supported by the locals operates through the net metering process and was then linked with the central electricity grid system.

Namgel Jangbu Sherpa, mayor of Solududhkunda Municipality, said the area had been freed from chronic load shedding as he had planned to rid the area of a power outage after he got elected to the post and made a lot of efforts ever since by holding series of discussions with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Driven by a vision of a bright city, the mayor said he has taken initiative to make tariffs between the NEA and Chialsa Mini Hydro project uniform. According to Mayor Sherpa, the electricity from NEA will compensate for the less electricity that will be provided by Chialsa mini-hydro project. The rates of electricity will be Rs. 8.4 per unit during the winter and Rs 4.8 during the monsoon season.   

Solukhumbu used to have four-hour long load shedding a day, two hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. The electricity line has been placed underground in Solukhumbu.