As per the Constitution of Nepal, multi-objective components of the project are the concurrent responsibility of the three tiers of government
The government recently told the parliament that it would soon lay the foundation stone for the 1,200- MW Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project(BGHEP).
The BGHEP facility is a good choice to serve the big load centres such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Hetauda – Birgunj industrial corridor. In addition, water from the Budhigandaki Project is a value-added resource due to the huge capital investment, submerging of arable land, displacement of people and increase in water supply during the dry season.
The agricultural value-addition would increase by 2.6 thousand dollars if the irrigated area increases by one hectare. We also need to protect the water rights, and manage the riparian issues in the trans-boundary watershed.
The Gandak River system is a trans-boundary watershed because it originates in Tibet, builds up in Nepal and drains into the Ganges in India. A study by ICI- MOD shows that the Gandak River Basin has a watershed area of 46,800 square kilometers. In the Tarai, the Gandak hydrological basin spans fromthe watershed area of the Tilawe River (Parsa) in the east to the Narayani River (Chitwan) in the middle and to Tinau River (Rupandehi) in the west. The shared hydrological boundary has implications in managing the water resources for justice and progress.
Secondly, the Indo-Nepal Gandak Agreement (1959 and 1964) has applied the above framework in some asymmetric ways to Nepal as per the contemporary political conditions. For example, the Gandak Barrage at Triveni supplies water to Bihar by the East Main Canal and then Don Branch Canal; the latter lets water supply to Nepal East Gandak Canal for parts of Narayani Zone of the Tarai.
The Gandak Barrage also supplies water to UP by the West Gandak Canal, and by Nepal West Gandak Canal for parts of Parasi. Nepal's east canal gets water after the Don Canal passes 98kilometers in Bihar, and Nepal's west canalintake level is 11feet higher than the intake level of the canal for UP. Total water allocated to Nepal is 3.23 percent of the total design flow. As these Indo-Nepal water allocation rights evolve, Nepal would need ways toharness water from the Budhigandaki Project to develop its agriculture and agro-industry sectors.
As a cornerstone of the Agricultural Development Strategy, the strategic approach of the Irrigation Master Plan (IMP) 2020- 2045 is to provide yearround irrigation through the inter-basin transfers of rivers. However, the Gandak River Agreement(Revision 1964) Clause9 on trans-valley uses of Gandak water in the months of February to April requires a separate agreement between India and Nepal. Nepal's IMP is to promote the Kaligandaki-Tinau river link for irrigation based on compensating increase in the dry season flow from the Budhigandaki Project.
Such conceptual transfer of water from the Narayani River systems left-bank to its right-bank should be avoided. In areas east of the Narayani River system, wa-ter from the Budhigandaki Project is more essential for irrigation in the Narayani Zone Tarai.
The IMP partially analysed the diversion of water from the Budhigandaki Project to Shaktikhor in Chitwan. This Budhigandaki-Shaktikhor water link will have good rates of return because: (i) It can revive the Khageri Irrigation, Narayani Lift Irrigation,East Rapti Irrigation schemes; (ii) it serves an additional command area in Chitwan; (iii) it adds water to Lothar and East Rapti rivers; and (iv) it creates surplus water in the East Rapti River, which should be transferred to the Tilawe River for irrigation in Parsa, Bara and Rautahat districts.
The East Rapti River has been receiving additional water from the Kulekhani Reservoir since 1982, and can have more water via the Budhigandaki Project in future.
For the East Rapti-Ti-lawe river link, we would need a tunnel (about 20- km) through the Churiya hills. The need to augment water supply for Narayani Zone Tarai is overdue since the commissioning of the Gandak Barrage in 1968.
First, paddy farming in the Narayani-Tarai has significantly decreased between 2000-01 and 2019-20 partly due to water shortages and its unreliability. Second, the Nepal West Gandak Canal has excluded over 150,000 hectares from the irrigation plan. Third, the Department of Irrigation has built a barrage on the Tilawe River to supplement water to the Gandak Canal, but this river has very little water, and the irrigation infrastructure is underutilised.
Fourth, over extraction of ground water has diminished the water level from the shallow aquifers, and adversely affected water availability in the Parsa Wild Reserve, Birgunj Municipality and so on. Fifth, the existing water supply via the Don Canal hardly follows its schedule due to frequent natural disasters and management issues.
The government has opted for the 'company model' for the BGHEP, i.e., for the electricity component with participation by several federal ministries and agencies, and the private sector. It is necessary to improve the institutional structure for the Budhigandaki Project's multiple costs and benefits, such as energy, water supply, farm irrigation, fishery and ecological services. As per the Constitution of Nepal, Schedule 5-9, multi-objective components of the project are the concurrent responsibility of the governments at the federal, provincial and local levels.
So a joint-board involving all three levels of government is necessary.
A formula for cost-sharing among the project components is essential, it will reduce the unit costs for each enterprise. The financing for the Budhigandaki Project can be mobilised by combining domestic equity and foreign credit from international development banks, funds, Exim banks and riparian countries, if the latter so wish. In conclusion, we urge the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation to simultaneously lay the foundation stones for the Budhigandaki Project's electricity generation as well as the tunnels for water supply (Shaktikhor and Tilawe) for food security.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 21, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.