Everybody’s talking about Budhi Gandaki

DHADING, JAN 08 -

Although the construction of the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project is a long way off, it has become the subject of discussion at tea shops and functions around the project area. Currently, an updated feasibility study of the project is nearing completion.

Locals are talking animatedly about the relocation of settlements from the proposed construction site, distribution of shares in the company to the inhabitants and financial closure of the project.

The government has picked the storage type Budhi Gandaki as one of the potential hydro projects where half of the $1 billion credit line offered by India will be spent. The project is located on the border between Dhading and Gorkha districts. It will affect 17 VDCs in Gorkha and 10 VDCs in Dhading .

“Discussions about the project have been taking place at every tea shop and event organised by various organisations,” said Bharat Dhakal, a resident of Arughat, Gorkha and a member of the Project Stakeholder Committee. “People are more concerned about safe rehabilitation.”

Rajaram Sharma, manager of  Dhading Radio which has been airing news about the project, said people were concerned about relocation as they would have to leave their places of birth. “They are concerned whether the government will pay attention.”

Since the updated feasibility study has reached the final phase of completion, district development committees, VDCs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have stopped investing in big development infrastructure in the affected VDCs. Land transactions have stopped too. The District Land Revenue Office is facing pressure to hike the land valuation.

France’s Tractebel Engineering recently submitted a draft of the feasibility study which, according to a project official, has suggested increasing the project’s capacity to more than 1,000 MW.

After the final report is submitted, the project’s detailed engineering design will be prepared and construction will begin immediately if funds become available, government officials said.

Chairman of the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project Development Committee Laxmi Devkota said that the French company would submit the final report in the next seven months.

“Although the project was initially planned to have capacity of 600 MW, it has been found that it can be increased to 1,200 MW,” said Devkota at an interaction organised here. He added that the government had given high priority to the project which is one of the national pride projects.

Stating that the French company had presented three modalities for the development of the scheme, Devkota said that one of them would be chosen once the detailed project report was completed.

The project design includes building a dam 263m high which will create a lake 63km long behind it. The estimated cost of the project is more than Rs 250 billion. As there will be 350 cubic metres of water even during the dry season, the project will also help irrigate fields in Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Dhading .

Although the construction of the project is expected to help end load-shedding, lawmakers from the affected districts said there should be a clear policy on the relocation of the people and their livelihood. CPN-UML lawmaker Rajendra Pandey complained that the government had not yet brought out a resettlement plan although more than 30,000 people from Dhading and Gorkha would be moved elsewhere.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Chinkaji Shrestha said some land acquisition and compensation related problems had emerged and pledged that they would be taken care of.

SOurce: The Kathmandu Post