KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 24
The ninth meeting of the Joint Committee on Water Resources (JCWR), co-chaired by Sagar Rai, secretary at Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, and Pankaj Kumar, secretary at Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, government of India, was held here on Friday.
This was preceded by the seventh meeting of the Joint Standing Technical Committee on Water Resources (JSTCWR ) that was co-chaired by Shishir Koirala, joint secretary at Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, government of Nepal, and M K Srinivas, chairman of Ganga Flood Control Commission, Patna, here on September 21 and 22.
These meetings comprehensively reviewed the bilateral water-sector cooperation between Nepal and India, including the implementation of Mahakali Treaty, Sapta Koshi-Sun Koshi Project and cooperation in areas of flooding and inundation. The progress of various bilateral committees, including Joint Committee on Inundation and Flood Management (JCIFM) and Joint Committee on Koshi and Gandak Project (JCKGP), was also discussed.
It was agreed to take forward the Sapta Koshi high dam project through further studies which take into consideration the planned upstream projects, submergence area of the project as well as other social, environmental and technical aspects. The joint team of experts is expected to meet soon.
Recalling the Nepal-India Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation issued during the visit of prime minister of Nepal to India in April 2022, where the two prime ministers directed their concerned officials to expedite the bilateral discussions towards early finalisation of the project's DPR, the JCWR extended the tenure of the team of experts (ToE) unto March 2023 for the finalisation of the DPR of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project and agreed to hold the fourth ToE meeting at the earliest.
The Nepali side thanked India for the assistance extended to Nepal regarding irrigation, flood management, inundation control, river embankment works, etcetera. The Indian side highlighted the unique relationship between the two countries and the importance of proper management and utilisation of water resources for mutual benefit.
India's Water Resources Secretary Kumar called on Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal after the meeting.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 25, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
