From the initial three-hour daytime power cuts, it is now up to six. We have been told that blackouts could stretch further if it does not rain soon or if the Himalayan snows don't melt fast enough. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) says that while daytime powercuts are inconvenient, they are preferable to load-shedding at night for security reasons.

There was no other option, but what is the fallout? NEA says it has been unable to supply over 600,000 units of electricity, but that on the other hand it has to make "take or pay" payments to Independent Power Producers, whose bills will soar once it begins to rain and their production peaks. On the other extreme, some of NEA's buyers of bulk supply, mainly large industries and mom-and-pop stores and factories, are facing new cash flow problems because of work stoppage caused by power cuts. Losses may add up to billions of rupees.

What kind of losses are we talking about? Here's an example: Between 26 March and 11 April, the Udayapur Cement Factory had to shut down production for 28 hours, leading to losses estimated at Rs 11 million. That means that for every hour without power supply, the factory lost Rs 411,000. The cement factory wrote to the NEA imploring that supply be restored to previous levels to allow it to operate without disruptions. The factory's worries were not limited to lowered production but also over the safety of electronic equipment whose replacements, it said, are not available even in India and China. The NEA has made new arrangements to supply power in industrial districts and areas with industrial clusters from 8am to 5pm, but that will not solve problems facing industries located in cities and using power from the supply for households. The NEA has also asked industries with captive power supply and back-up systems to help it meet the present shortage by running their power supply systems from 6pm to 10pm.