Work in Upper Tamakoshi has been halted since last 8 months due to earthquake, landslides & fuel crisis

The construction of 453 Megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project has been affected due to the earthquake and the ongoing fuel crisis. The hydroelectricity project is being constructed at Lamabagar, Dolkha. The roads to construction site was affected by the earthquake that happened 8 months ago. As the roads were started being cleared, the fuel crisis started so the construction of the project has been stopped again. Bigyan Shrestha, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited said, “From Jestha till Dashain the work was halted due to after shocks of earthquake and rainy season and now the work is still stopped due to the fuel crisis.” We have also requested many times to the government for the diesel but we never got it. After requesting for long time, the government has said they will provide us diesel, he added. According to Shrestha, Upper Tamakoshi has already deposited money to Nepal Oil Corporation’s account. The government has said to make the nation load shedding free in a years time, but the government has not provided diesel to largest hydropower power project of the nation. Pre earthquake, 75% of the work of the project had been completed. The entry point of the construction has been affected due to earthquake and the dam has gone down by 17 inches. By the road away from the place called Gangor till the dam site has been affected. The landslide has affected the entire track so the first thing that needs to be done is to clean the roads. It will take 4 months to clean the landslide and bring road to the operation. Water has been collected in 4 km long head race tunnel. It will take few months to clean the tunnel. The landslide after the earthquake has also affected the 33 KV transmission line pole and wire from Sinti to Lamabagar. For the maintenance of these also the roads need to be cleaned. The project needs 12000 liter disel every week to start the work. The project approximately had a loss of Rs 2 arba due to the earthquake. The project, which was expected to be completed by the year 2073 has already been late by 8 months. If the reconstruction work can be started now than the project will complete by the end of year 2074, said Mr. Shrestha. Source: Karobar