Kathmandu, September 1

With an aim to carry on with the construction works of the 90-kilometre-long Solu Corridor (transmission line project) in a smooth manner, the concerned stakeholders have agreed to create a favourable environment for the project.

The discussion held between Chief Minister of Province 1 Sher Dhan Rai, managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kul Man Ghising, federal and provincial parliament members of Udayapur, Solukhumbu and Okhaldhunga, project officials, and locals from Udayapur has come up with a verbal agreement not to obstruct the construction works in Udayapur district.

Speaking at a discussion programme in Dhankuta on Saturday, CM Rai said that the Province 1 government was fully committed to facilitating the construction works of the Solu Corridor. “The provincial government is aware that the electricity which is generated in the region should not go to waste due to lack of transmission lines, so we need to resolve disputed issues of community forest clearance in Udayapur".

Speaking at the programme, Ghising said NEA was committed to completing the project on time.

On May 19, NEA had asked concerned officials to complete construction of transmission line and substation of the Solu Corridor within the given deadline. NEA has directed the management officials of the project, contractor, and the consulting company to complete the project within February 2020.

According to Ghising, the 132 kVA double-circuit transmission line project has completed 75 per cent of construction works. Mohan Energy Corporation Pvt Ltd, India, has been assigned the responsibility of constructing the transmission line and the substation.

“Till date we have not faced any situation whereby the generated electricity has gone to waste due to lack of transmission lines, so I would like to urge all concerned stakeholders to work together to complete the project on time,” Ghising added.

Janardan Gautam, project head of Solu Corridor, informed that the project had been facing some problems with members of the community forests of Udayapur. “They had even obstructed construction works previously but now we have reached a constructive agreement.”

As per Gautam, out of the total of 303 transmission line towers, 43 towers have already been erected and foundations of 207 towers have been laid so far.

The Solu Corridor project is being constructed with investment from government of Nepal, NEA and a soft loan obtained from the Indian ExIm Bank. Twelve hydropower projects with total installed capacity of 325 megawatts are being constructed in the region.