October 11: Telephone service provided by Nepal Telecom at Simkot Rural Municipality-3 in Humla district has remained obstructed for the past one month. But concerned authority seems least bothered about the service disruption. The problem has aggravated at a time when festivals including Dashain and Tihar are just around the corner.    
Obstruction in the power supply provided by a local small hydropower project in Heldung has resulted in the discontinuation of the telecom service.    
As a result, hundreds of locals have been affected in many ways.

"We are prevented from sending best wishes through messages on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar festivals without telephone service," said a local resident Hemanta Bohara.    
The locals have demanded installation of solar panels for reliable operation of telephone network. Nepal Telecom has said that it was at work to increase the capacity of its network. Nepal Telecom added that it has provided the service to some areas in the district through the use of generators. -- RSS