ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

was provided to 17% of rural households comparedwith 86% in urban areas (CBS 2002b), though arecent survey has shown improving electricityconnections in both rural (27%) and urban (87%)areas (NLSS 2004). The national rate of serviceincreased from 14% in 1995/96 to 40% in 2001. Mostrural households use other sources of energy such asfuelwood and kerosene for lighting and cooking.Bhaktapur (Hill district in the central region) hasthe largest percentage of electricity connectedhouseholds with 97.4% and Dolpa (Mountain districtin the mid-west region) has the lowest with a mere0.59% of households.The current production capacity of 527.5megawatts is a mere 0.63% of the total theoreticalhydroelectricity potential of 83,000 megawatts and1.26% of the economically feasible potential of 42,000megawatts. In order to increase the access ofelectricity and to increase production in agricultureand other activities, the current Tenth Plan(2002–2007) has set several targets: (a) to construct842 megawatts of electricity capacity, (b) 2,600village development committees to be supplied withelectricity through the national grid on the basis ofequitable distribution, and (c) annual per capitaelectricity consumption to be raised to 100 kilowatthours.One strategy envisaged in the current plan isto develop electricity through investment by both theprivate and public sectors.Electricity is a clean energy. Harnessing theeconomically feasible hydroelectricity in Nepal, asstated above, involves the construction of largereservoirs. But there have been big debates overmacro (mega) and micro hydro projects.Construction of large reservoirs for power generationin the Hill region of Nepal can have negative impactson the environment and ecosystem. Some of themajor environmental and ecological problems oflarge dams, which impound large volumes of water,are reservoir siltation, land submergence,displacement of people, resource use conflicts,effects on natural aquatic and river habitats, localclimate change, increase in incidence of landslidesfrom steep hill slopes, water logging and salinity, andwatershed disturbance. In order to mitigate theseenvironmental consequences, measures such asTable: 2.12: Electricity Connection to HouseholdsRegionNumber of HouseholdsTotal Electricity %Mountain 285,213 60,630 21.26Hill 1,951,191 834,789 42.78Terai 1,938,053 749,080 38.65Nepal 4,174,457 1,644,499 39.39Source: CBS (2002b)Chapter 2: Rural Environment, Poverty, and Livelihoodwatershed management and protection of upstreamareas need to be adopted during the constructionphase. On the other hand, micro-hydro projects(