What Caused Nepal’s Massive Power Outage—Is MD Dev Shakya to Blame?

A major power outage hit Kathmandu and several areas of central and eastern Nepal on Thursday evening after a technical problem was found in the power line that connects Nepal with India.

The blackout happened during the busy evening hours, causing many areas—including the capital city—to go dark.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the issue started at the Dhalkebar substation. NEA spokesperson Rajabhai Shilpakar said, “The fault occurred in the transmission line that connects to India.”

Even though Nepal does not import electricity from India during the evening, the problem still affected the whole system. “Even when no power is coming from India, we still need to keep the system balanced. Work is being done to fix the issue, and power will be back soon,” Shilpakar added.

Along with the electricity outage, people also expressed their anger on social media. Many shared posts and comments criticizing the Nepal Electricity Authority. Some users claimed this could be the beginning of unannounced load-shedding, while others went as far as abusing the newly appointed NEA Managing Director, Hitendra Dev Shakya.