Far-West wants West Seti hydro project at any cost
DHANGADI, MAR 23 -
As politicians debate for and against the West Seti Hydroelectricity Project in Kathmandu, local stakeholders in the Far West have started a phased agitation, demanding the project should not be stopped at any cost.
The West Seti Stakeholder Committee (WSSC) and civil society staged a two-hour chakkajam in Attariya on Thursday. The Parliamentary Natural Resources and Means Committee (NRMC) is currently investigating an agreement between the government and the China Three Gorges Corporation International (CTGI). The panel had questioned the proposed modality of investment and equity sharing in the deal. The agitation, according to the stakeholders, is meant to mount pressure on authorities to start the project as announced earlier.
The project located in Doti and Dadeldhura districts is seen as a crucial one for the industrialisation of the Far-West region. One of the protesters, bus driver Tej Bahadur Ayer, said he is ready for an eight-hour of chakkajam for the sake of West Seti. “But, the project must start at any cost,” he said. The locals are also against politicisation of the project.
Stakeholder committee chairman Ratan Saud said any activity with the intention of stopping the West Seti project will not be intolerable. “People of the Far West, who waited for the West Seti project for 16 years, will intensify their protests if the project does not start,” said Saud.
“People of the affected areas have abandoned their farmlands and houses, while budget for such areas has not been sanctioned for years.”
Bishnu Chand, the general secretary of the WSSC, said the NRMC can investigate without stalling the project. “If project developer—Three Gorges International Corporation—is sent back, we will not tolerate it,” he said.
Signature campaign in Doti
Demanding an end to the deadlock over the West Seti project, locals in Doti have started a signature campaign.
More than 700 signatures were collected on Monday, the first day of the campaign in the district headquarters, Silgadhi. Students, teachers, intellectuals and commoners are active in the campaign.
Source: Kantipur
