21 Industries in Pokhara Face Power Cut Over Unpaid Land Rent

Pokhara. Electricity lines have been cut off to 21 industries in Pokhara for not paying land rent for a long time. The Nepal Industrial Area Management Office has cut off the electricity supply to 21 industries operating within the Pokhara Industrial Area. The Industrial Area Management Office, Pokhara, started cutting off the lines from Wednesday. After the line was cut, some industries have started paying the arrears. The office has stated that 3 crore 60 lakh rupees have been recovered in just 2 days.

After paying the arrears, electricity has been reconnected to 13 industries, 2 on Wednesday and 11 on Thursday, informed the chief of the office, Rameshraj Nepal. "The problem had been going on for some time. They went to court saying the land rent was too high," he said, "After that, the process of collecting rent was stopped. Later, as per the court's order, a new rent rate was set. Now they are not willing to pay that either." Nepal said that the problem arose because they went to court again later, and now the rent is being collected under pressure.

He said that the lines will be reconnected as soon as the remaining industries pay the amount. Approximately 4 crore 11 lakh rupees were in arrears for land rent. On Wednesday, the lines of Annapurna Food and Beverage and Pokhara Cotton Industry were reconnected, while on Thursday, electricity supply was restored to 11 more industries.

The land rent dispute within the Pokhara Industrial Area is still ongoing. Until 2074 BS, industrialists used to pay rent at the rate of 8,300 rupees per ropani per year. However, after the decision to increase the rent to up to 54,000 rupees at once, the industrialists went to court. Following the order of the High Court, the Industrial Area Management Limited decided to set the rent at 18,500 rupees per ropani per year and increase it by 5 percent every year.

However, industrialists have said that the dispute has escalated further after bills were sent showing arrears of the difference in rent from 2074 to 2079 BS. The office, on the other hand, accuses the industrialists of not fully paying the rent determined according to the decisions of the court and the board of directors. The industrialists have complained that their production and business operations have been directly affected by the power outage.

Rudralal Shrestha, chairman of the Pokhara Industrial Area Industry Association, said that cutting off electricity while the disputed issue is still pending in the Supreme Court is pressure on the business community. "The rent dispute is still pending in the Supreme Court and a date has been set for the next hearing on July 7," he said, "It is not appropriate to cut off electricity at the end of the financial year to intimidate industrialists at this time."