Four villages in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality of Sindhupalchok are going through a power outage for the last three days after a landslide swept away two utility poles.

Without electricity, the residents of Marming, Listikot, Phulpingkatti and Tatopani have been forced to spend their night in the dark, fearful that another landslide or a flood at the Bhotekoshi river could hit their homes when they are asleep.

“Electricity supply offered a sense of comfort and security. We could view our immediate surroundings at night, see if the river is flooded. Without electricity our lives have been crippled. Many of us have barely slept these past three days,” Devi Shrestha of Phulpingkatti said.

Sangdoma Sherpa of Tatopani said power outage has worsened the situation in her neighbourhood that was already facing flooding threat from the Bhotekoshi. 

“To add to our woes, the incidents of burglary has also risen of late. We hope the electricity authority will fix those poles soon,” she said.

The outage of electricity has also hit the health facilities in the area.

Subi Nepal, an auxiliary health worker at Tatopani Health Post, said treating emergency cases at night, with battery lamps for light, was difficult and time consuming. 

“Some cases need immediate medical intervention, where time is of the essence. The power outage has compromised us and the patients,” she said.  

Heavy rainfall of the past couple of days has triggered landslides in different parts of Sindhupalchok.

Bimal Dangi, deputy superintendent of the Armed Police Force, said security personnel have been deployed to the landslide-affected areas.