An early morning walk, they say, is good for your health. It is also an eye-opener to those who keep their eyes open. One who ventured out on a walk early Saturday morning around Tundikhel would have no difficulty in seeing just how endowed Nepal Telecom Corporation is with monetary resources. The NTC building just behind Bhadrakali was smothered in strings of light bulbs, and at least 4-5,000 watts of electricity must have been used for the purpose. The occasion for the illumination of the NTC building was the NTC’s anniversary, and hence money was obviously no consideration.

Presuming that the building had been illumined at around 6 in the evening the previous day, the consumption of electricity at the building for a 12-hour period would have been 48 kilowatts hours (presuming that only 4,000 watts of power were used). And who were there to see the building being illuminated in the dead of the night? Hardly anybody, and so why was the building illuminated when there is a shortage of electricity and the Nepal Electricity Authority has to cut supply to ordinary consumers to a total of 11 hours every day? The NTC might argue that the illumination was done through their “own” power supply such as generators. But this too is a waste of the country’s scare resources for one uses up imported fuels and that too for no productive purposes.

The country is reeling under an acute power shortage and ordinary citizens — who are said to be sovereign in this country — have to make do with a rationed power supply. The hardship and problems created by the power rationing scheme to the ordinary people are huge, but they have to live by the rationing because the NEA has nothing more to give. The demand far exceeds the supply. But the tendency of the NEA to authorise new connections both for domestic and industrial uses when it does not have the supply is really baffling. One wonders if decisions to give new connections are taken under pressure or if is there a law that compels the NEA to issue new connections to anyone that asks for it. And despite over-subscription to the limited supply, the NEA is always suffering financial losses. The building boom that is taking place in the capital and elsewhere means that more electric connections will be needed and since it is the “in” thing these days to install lifts and other electricity guzzling equipment like air conditioners in new buildings, unnecessary consumption of electricity takes place.

This brings us back to the NTC building illumination. Was the all-night illumination necessary? One cannot really blame the NTC for doing what it did. The NTC is just following the old tradition in “new” Nepal. The old tradition of lavishly celebrating anniversaries is nothing new and has been in place for decades. Several occasions like National Democracy Day on Falgoon 7 see illumination all over the city, and perhaps the country. It matters little if this means consumption of a whole lot of electricity beyond the NEA’s ability to meet demand. The government and its agencies will no doubt follow the same tradition this year (Democracy Day falls on Feb. 19 this year). But should a responsible government indulge in such extravagant ostentatious displays at a time when the country is in the grip of an acute power shortage? The government as the true representative of the people must learn to live by what it teaches others. It must learn to set an example to save scarce resources and electricity at this time is one of this country’s more scarce resources. (Governments past and present including the Maoist-led government have spent extravagantly and needlessly knowing full well how poor a country we are and how dependent we, as beggars, are on the largesse of donors.)

It is only when the government and government-owned agencies and corporations resort to reasonable celebrations of national events or their anniversaries that the people too begin shunning ostentatious displays such as during marriage or other receptions. Even birthday celebrations these days are held in not-too-humble a way. The large number of privately owned party venues illuminate their premises whenever a reception is held, and such illumination (not to speak of the loud noise — music — that such venues generate and disturb the local people) consumes a lot of energy. Perhaps it is time that the government or the authority responsible put an end to such waste when the nation is passing through an energy crisis. It cannot be business as usual when there is a crisis around. But what can a government that itself indulges in wasteful practices do? The waste on unproductive activities that the government indulges in is followed by the people.

Not too long ago, the government issued a notification urging minimal use of lights on billboards and posters. Some in the business community abided by the government appeal; while some others did not. There are still lights illuminating big advertising posters. Are such lights necessary? In any case, how many people watch and see the posters and what effect does it have on their psyche? Conserving energy and learning to live within one’s means is something we seem to have forgotten. Bombarded by the glamorous lives of celebrities that one witnesses on our TV sets day in and day out (when there is power supply), we tend to emulate things that are just beyond our means. This may be good for the producers of cosmetics one does not really need, but hardly befits the life of the sane. In the same way, observing anniversaries may be a good reminder of past achievements and future plans and projects, but they need not be punctuated by unnecessary shows like illuminating the building or party venue. Light in the dark is always welcome, but when such lights are lit at the cost of other people, it is time to rethink the way the government and its agencies and government-owned corporations observe such events. 

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