Fri Feb 10 2012

Kathmandu blackout
by Richard S. Ehrlich
March 4, 2008

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- When this nation's capital is cut off from electricity, survival becomes a surreal mix of medieval streets lit by candles, people stimulated as if in a Pavlov experiment, and concern that climate change and poverty may doom Kathmandu.

If it's Monday, and you are living in Kathmandu's trendy, tourist-packed Thamel neighborhood, take your hot shower and go online before 9 a.m., because this prosperous section of town will not get electricity again until 1 p.m.

Also plan for a blacked-out dinner on Monday evenings, when Thamel's electric supply stops again from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The next day, stagger your electric needs differently, because on Tuesdays, Thamel's supply stops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Kathmandu's electric "load shedding" schedule changes daily, while rotating throughout the city, making it impossible to do the same things at the same time each day, even in the same neighborhood.

As a result, life here evokes comparisons to an experiment by Ivan Pavlov, a 1904 Nobel Prize-winning Russian physiologist who proved dogs salivate when stimulated by the sound of a bell linked to the supply of food.

People in Kathmandu check their calendar and clock before bathing, eating, using computers, watching TV, recharging batteries, refrigerating food and medicine, powering their homes, offices, shops and factories, and doing anything else which requires an electric socket.

The government publishes grid-by-grid calendars warning of the emaciated electricity, which averages six to eight hours off every day, according to which neighborhood you are in.

On one day a week, each zone's supply is kept on.

"Fridays are like a holiday for us because, in this neighborhood, we get electricity for 24 hours on Fridays," a shopkeeper in Thamel said while trying to sell clothing from his small, low-ceiling shop.

Another merchant, when asked about the problem of no electricity, silently replied by gesturing with his hand, as if slitting his throat.

Wealthier homes, businesses, hotels, restaurants, embassies, offices, factories and hospitals install gasoline-powered generators to provide electricity every time the energy is cut.

The generators moan like motorcycle engines, and their nauseating, blackish-blue exhaust fumes pollute nearby sidewalks.

For many of those buildings, the generators support only emergency lighting while sacrificing most other needs, leaving inhabitants to suffer a slew of deadened services.

Those lucky enough to have a generator must also pay the spiraling cost of gasoline.

Kathmandu may serve as an example for Earth's other cities, which are worried about the punishing effects of climate change.

Some critics of Nepal's energy problems point north to the snow-covered Himalayas.

They speculate that this season's electricity shortage may have been worsened by a recent burst of unusual cold weather, which inhibited the mountains' glaciers from thawing.

Melting snows are supposed to nourish Nepal's rivers and crank up the country's hydro-electric power plants.

During January and February, however, icy weather gripped the Himalayas, thanks to deadly cold fronts which caused havoc across northern Afghanistan, Tibet and much of China.

Severe snows paralyzed China's trains, planes and other traffic, and also hurled freezing wind south across the Himalayas near Mt. Everest, which straddles the border between Nepal and China's Tibet.

Other climate watchers say Kathmandu's problem is actually due to global warming because, during recent years, the Himalayas' glaciers have shrunk.

Either way, whatever water does flow from Nepal's mountains, it is now not enough.

Kathmandu has suffered electricity shortages for several years, and also has itself to blame for its lack of sufficient energy.

During the past few decades, Kathmandu has experienced a real estate boom, aggravated by an exponential population increase, and poor planning.

Kathmandu's ancient Hindu pagodas, temples, and shrines now compete with new slabs of cement apartments, shops and other buildings -- all straining the city's creaking energy supply.

The government is trying to import more electricity from India, while planning to build additional hydro-electric stations in Nepal.

But when the power fails, people have little choice except to pay extra for whatever goods and services they can scrounge.

Each night, people in shops, homes and other places hurriedly light candles, but the tiny glowing flames do little to illuminate Kathmandu's medieval ambiance.

---
Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. He is co-author of "Hello My Big Big Honey!", a non-fiction book of investigative journalism, and his web page is http://www.geocities.com/asia_correspondent

Recent International Issues Articles

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee condemns Gaza attacks
December 30, 2008
Marvin Wingfield

Witnessing the decay of Western hegemony and the role of the organic
December 28, 2008
Pablo Ouziel

Iraq's US security charade
December 4, 2008
Ramzy Baroud

Yellow-shirt mob seizes Bangkok's International Airport
November 29, 2008
Richard S. Ehrlich

Gaza: salvation in a news broadcast
November 28, 2008
Ramzy Baroud

A funny thing happened to me on my way to the Damascus Conference
November 23, 2008
Cynthia McKinney

Bangkok dangerous: bombs, sleaze and paralysis
November 21, 2008
Richard S. Ehrlich

Will the young rescue unions?
November 16, 2008
Dick Meister

What does Iran have to do with your town? Here's what it has to do with mine
November 13, 2008
David Swanson

Playgrounds for Palestine: one marathon at a time
November 6, 2008
Ramzy Baroud

World food day: global crises’ double standards
October 24, 2008
Ramzy Baroud