Tag Archives: load sheeding

Two must have apps in Nepal

Posted on May 7, 2014 | 4 comments

If you are living in Nepal I am sure I don’t need to tell you about it but if you are going to Nepal anytime soon, there are a few must have apps you should download before you go. They were really useful while I was there.

1. Nepal load shedding schedule app

If you are going to Nepal and you don’t know what load shedding is, then you really need to do a lot of research on it. I know power cut is really annoying but we can’t do anything about it so being smart might help you a lot while you are in Nepal.

This app allows you to view and track daily load-shedding schedule, set your load shedding GROUP, view the schedule along with Power ON/OFF status, remaining COUNTDOWN time, and the NOTIFICATION regarding the upcoming power cut. This was my life line while I was there as I used to check this app many times a day to plan when to have a shower, when to iron and vacuum and many other daily activates.

2. Flashlight

If you own a smart phone, one of the most useful apps for Nepal will be the flashlight app. There are heaps of different free flashlight apps for iPhone and Android and believe me it will be a lifesaver. You never know when the power goes out like while I was in the changing room of a shop and suddenly it was pitch black. Not many people have backup generators so the flashlight app came in very hand.

You can also use the light to guide you while out and about during the evening as street light are not always there or if there are some they may not be on.

Happy Traveling. Take care everyone ,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

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No Light

Posted on February 24, 2012 | 13 comments

Load shedding is a familiar term in Nepal and it means shutting down of power (electricity) in particular areas of the city to reduce electricity usage. In Nepal, load shedding of electricity has a schedule and affects everyone living there. 

I came across this short Nepali animation which tells the story of Nepali people living with load shedding schedule in Nepal. I really can’t imagine my life without electricity up to 20 hours a day. But most Nepali people have no choice but go on with their normal life with a candle light or an oil lamp. 

It is normal in Nepal to have power outage for a few hours a day but in the summer months it goes up to 20 hours a day so you really have to do everything that requires electricity in 4 hours. If you are lucky, those 4 hours can be morning or evenings but if you are not, it may be in the middle of the night when you are sleeping or the middle of the day when you are at work. It is really a sad situation for a country which has so much hydro power generation capacity and at this stage, it only produce half the amount of electricity that the country needs. 

According to a report, Nepal can produce 40,000 MW of electricity from all its rivers but right now is only producing 600 MW (really sad situation). And only 40% of the country has electricity. And these 40% still have to live with load shedding. 

Political instability and power struggle has led the country backwards into darkness for a more than a decade now. Instead of using the money to invest in the country’s infrastructure, everyone who comes into power to run the government are busy buying new mansions for themselves, travelling overseas in luxury, with first class flights and hotels and making sure their children are sent to top universities in the world. 

Imagine your life without any electrical equipment like vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, microwave, kettle, toaster etc. Yes that is right, you might be scared thinking how you would mange a day without all this but in Nepal they have to go through this everyday. 

When I was in Nepal, the situation was not that bad but every time I go for a visit, I find that so many things are going backward instead of forward. There are more people in Kathmandu valley than the infrastructure can handle and it has made the valley chaotic and polluted.  I have no idea why the government is not doing anything when they know things are not working. It feels like if you have power and/or money, you can get away with anything there. 

In an attempt to make the government aware of the problems people are suffering, at one point they even had one of the television station broadcastings news using lanterns. 

 

Hydropower projects are the future of the country and I really hope there will be at least a few projects built to ease the situation of the people. And I hope politicians will make it easy for these project to be built because I know there were a few projects closed down because of the political situations. 

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Value of Electricity

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 4 comments

It is getting really hot in Sydney these days. It was 34-37 C the day before. After a very hot day I went home thinking it will be a cool evening with the AC on and I can relax but to my annoyance the electricity went off. 

I couldn’t believe how much our lives depend on having electricity here. The lift in the building stopped working so we could hear fire exit doors opening and closing all the time. The building in front of us had people stuck in the lift so there were two fire trucks and police car to rescue them. 

People couldn’t go inside the car park as the roller doors are electric so there were long queues of cars waiting in the street. 

Inside our apartment, AS and I didn’t know what to do. Our internet didn’t work, no TV, the laptop battery was on 35%, no light so nothing to do. Luckily we have a gas stove which was the only thing working. But still we didn’t cook anything as it was too dark so we ordered takeaway. I remember my cousin K, mentioning power outage in June for hours when I was in Nepal, and as they have electric stove, they had to go out and eat. 

I have been in Nepal when they had 18 hours of load shedding. Luckily my house has an inverter so we had some light during those times. But I can’t imagine how everyone in Nepal live everyday more than 9 months a year without electricity. It is good that my parents are not dependent on the fridge as they cook fresh meal everyday. Also they buy their milk every morning and meat on the day, they are cooking. They always buy fresh fruits and veggies every other day so they can have fresh supply of most essential things. I can’t imagine people here living without a fridge and a microwave. We wouldn’t know what to do.

 Most of the houses in Nepal don’t have air conditioning and lift so you are not stuck when load shedding happens.

Sometimes I forget how much better facilities we have than people in Nepal. I was complaining that power was out for a few hours but then I remembered for people living in Nepal that is a part and parcel of their life. I see Facebook and Twitter updates from my friends and family in Nepal like

 “ No power cut for last 24 hours 🙂 🙂 🙂 “

 “ Load shedding is reduced to 10 hours a day :)”.

 “ Felt so lucky to wait only 15 minutes in line for petrol’.

“ No water for last two days 😦”

“ Nepal bandh again today, walking to work” (Nepal closed/no vehicles on road due to strikes)

 I promise from now on I will appreciate how good I have it here and stop complaining about small things that I don’t have.

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