DAMAULI, NOVEMBER 29
Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal inspected Tanahun Hydropower Project today. The 140-MW capacity hydropower project is being constructed in Jhaputar, Rishing Rural Municipality.
During her inspection visit, the minister was briefed about the work progress of the under-construction transmission and distribution line, tunnel road and dam.
Speaking on the occasion, she described the project as a major one and clarified that the government would not tolerate delay in the project due to any administrative, local or resource-related reasons.
"As the project must be finished on time, the ministry wants you all to go all out to meet the deadline," she told staffers and technicians, adding the project would not only generate hydroelectricity but also help uplift the overall living standard of people in the region by contributing to irrigation, fishery and tourism.
Project Chief Achyutbabu Ghimire briefed the minister on the work progress, saying the project would have relatively less impact on the environment given the fact that its reservoir site is away from human settlement, amidst dense forests.
The government is said to have kept this reservoir-based project on priority given its role in reducing electricity import from India during the dry season.
The estimated cost of the project stands at 505 million US dollars.
While JAICA, ADB and European Investment Bank have agreed to invest $184 million, $150 million and $85 million respectively, Nepal government is to invest 86 million US dollars in the project that will produce 140-MW power round the year.
The project will have a 726 square kilometres reservoir with the capacity to store 295.1 cubic metres of water.
It will have its dam, measuring 140 metres, built at Dule Pahara near Damauli and the water from the reservoir will be tunneled through a 1.162-km tunnel to the powerhouse. The power generated from the project will be linked to the national transmission line through a 39-km 220-kv double circuit line.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 30 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
