DoI-GMR completes data collection
KATHMANDU:
A joint team comprising representatives of the Department of Irrigation (DoI) and GMR Energy, the developer of Upper Karnali hydroelectric project, has completed collecting data to determine the impact of the 900-megawatt project on downstream irrigation projects.
The data collected through over a month-long field visit will now be analysed by the joint team of the DoI and GMR Energy of India.
“Based on this study, we will produce a report which will shed light on whether the Upper Karnali project will have any impact on downstream irrigation projects,” DoI Director General Madhav Belbase told The Himalayan Times, adding, “If the result is affirmative, measures to mitigate those risks will be recommended.”
The DoI hopes that the process of analysing data and preparing a report would be wrapped up within the deadline of March extended to GMR Energy.
It was earlier said that the $1.4-billion Upper Karnali hydroelectric project would affect downstream irrigation projects like Rani-Jamara-Kuleriya, Rajapur and Surya Patuwa. Based on this assumption, the government had asked the project developer to conduct a comprehensive study and take necessary measures to minimise the impact.
GMR Energy has agreed to bear the cost of conducting the field study and building necessary infrastructure, including a re-regulating dam, to reduce the effects of the hydro project on irrigation projects.
This clause is also mentioned in the Upper Karnali Project Development Agreement (PDA) signed between Investment Board Nepal, a government body which is overseeing the implementation of the hydro project, and GMR Energy on September 19.
Based on this clause, the DoI had earlier extended terms of reference to GMR Energy to conduct a detailed study on impact of the hydro project on irrigation projects.
The DoI had dispatched its officials, including an engineer, to the field to closely monitor the data collected by representatives of GMR Energy.
“We will follow all the standard procedures to ascertain whether the hydro project will lower the water level at the site where the intake of Rani-Jamara-Kuleriya irrigation project is located,” Belbase said.
GMR Energy is building the Upper Karnali project under build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. Under this model, the developer will have to hand over the project, including transmission lines, to the government free of cost and in good operating condition after 25 years of electricity generation.
GMR has said it would arrange all necessary funds to build the project within two years of signing the PDA and complete construction of hydro plant and transmission lines within five years of reaching the financial closure.
Source: THT
