Dipayal, December 2

Residents in dozens of villages in the far-west are languishing in the dark after micro hydropower projects catering to their needs went dysfunctional.

While a number of hydro projects have suffered damages due to the rain, other projects worth millions of rupees have been completely or partially swept away by floods and landslides during the monsoon this year.

According to Regional Service Centre Dipayal regional coordinator Tek Bahadur Balayar, repair of the projects seems infeasible for want of fund. “As the projects can’t be repaired with local funds, we have no option,” he said.

In Doti, 611 households have been living in the dark ever since a landslide swept away a 60KW- micro hydropower project in Daud VDC. The project was developed with a fund of around 70 million rupees.

Similarly, 200 local households have been affected after the 26KW Gadseri Gad Micro Hydropower Project suffered damage.

Similarly, while a 43KW micro hydropower project of Brahmadev and Gukule project of Darchula are awaiting repairs following the monsoon damage, more than 18 micro projects of Bajhang and Accham’s Darnal and other projects are yet to come back into operation.

Majority of the micro hydropower projects in the region were developed by Rural Development Service Centre and Regional Service Centre.

“We had developed those projects after a lot of effort, but they are yet to be repaired due to lack funds,” said Bharat Bahadur Kathayat, acting chairperson of RDSC.