Fund crunch renders two dozen micro hydel projects useless

MUGU, Dec 18:

More than two dozen micro hydropower projects in the district have been rendered defunct due to lack of maintenance.

Investments worth more than Rs 60 million have been made on these run-of-river type projects.

Of the 21 projects built under assistance of Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) in the district, only 8 are functioning at present. Likewise, three other micro hydropower projects run by the Rural Area Development Committee have also become useless in the lack of maintenance fund.

According to officials of District Development Committee (DDC), Mugu, about Rs 60 million invested in these projects has gone to waste in the absence of coordination between consumers and promoters as well as the lack of fund for periodic maintenance of the projects.

Investments ranging from Rs 1.5 million to Rs 7 million have been made on these projects. These projects stopped generating power after peltric set malfunctioned in the lack of regular maintenance. Surprisingly, government offices do not have information about the status of these projects.

“Locals don´t have fund for maintenance,” Ranga Bahadur Karki, a local of Henikaadh, said, “And donors aren´t interested in upkeep of these projects.”

Source: Republica