Pancheshwar loses momentum

KATHMANDU, Feb 26:

 The first and second meetings of the Pancheshwar Development Authority were held in Kathmandu and New Delhi soon after Nepal and India agreed to expedite the project during India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kathmandu in August.

The second meeting held in New Delhi on November 19 had entrusted the Indian side with proposing the qualifications, and remunerations for the chief executive officer and additional CEO of the authority and was to correspond with Nepal and finalize it through mutual understanding.
 
But for the past three months, there has been no progress on the project. The Indian government has yet to correspond to the government regarding essential appointments for setting up the authority. According to the bilateral agreement, Nepal will have its CEO in the authority, while the Indian side would appoint the additional CEO. Both Nepal and India will have three members each on the executive committee of the Pancheswar Development Authority.

Talking to Republica, Ministry of Energy Keshav Dhwaj Adhikari confirmed that they have not received information regarding any development on the project.

Some officials at the Ministry of Energy officials wonder why the Indian side is reluctant to keep the momentum the project going. The two sides had decided to form a project governing body co-chaired by Nepal’s Energy Secretary and India’s Power Secretary.

The Mahakali Treaty signed in 1996 had envisaged the project.

The first meeting of the body in September in Kathmandu had decided to hold the second meeting of the governing body in New Delhi and appoint the CEO and additional CEO, paving the way for setting up the project office in Kathmandu. The meeting had also decided to set the qualifications and criteria for the CEO of the Pancheswar Development Authority through mutual understanding before making the appointments.

Meanwhile, correspondence on preparing terms of reference (ToR) for hiring Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), a government of India-owned consultant, for completing Detailed Project Report of 5600 MW project has also not materialized . Announcements were made for completing the DPR within a year during Modi’s visit to Nepal, but six months have already passed without any progress on the project.

Adhikari also informed that they will return ToR proposal documents to the Indian authority for finalization. Ministry of Energy received the ToR proposal last week. “ToR can be finalized through mutual understanding and will be endorsed by the next meeting of the governing body,” said Adhikari. The next governing body meeting of the authority is expected to be held in Kathmandu but the Ministry of Energy has no idea as to when the meeting would take place.

Chiranjivi Chatuat, project chief of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, a Nepali agency set up for the development of the project, informed that WAPCOS has recently set up its office in Kanchanpur.

Source: Republica