The signature campaign has been launched with the aim of putting pressure on the Budhi Gandaki project to move forward by setting up a separate stall at the festival organized by the Dhading Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which began on Thursday.
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A signature campaign has been launched in Dhading with the aim of putting pressure on the work of the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, which is considered a project of national pride.
The Dhading Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started a signature campaign to pressurize the industry to move forward with the work of the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project by setting up a separate stall at the Dhading Festival that began on Thursday.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Chandra Prasad Dhakal had started the campaign by signing the petition. President Dhakal also urged the government to immediately move forward with the construction of the project. He also said that the government has been informed that the private sector is ready to cooperate in moving forward with the project.
The Budhigandaki Hydropower Company, which has been studied for a feasibility study with a target of generating 1,200 megawatts of electricity at an estimated cost of Rs 331 billion, has not moved forward with the construction phase despite the completion of important work, including compensation.
The project, which has been proposed to be constructed under the Companies Act, 2063, has been constructed from time to time, and compensation has been distributed to the affected areas by spending more than Rs 45 billion, while a side office was also opened with a flourish, saying that construction work would be started immediately with a large investment. The then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who arrived to inaugurate the side office, said that the government had taken steps to immediately increase the work, but the work has not progressed yet.
The Budhi Gandaki project is Nepal's largest multi-purpose reservoir project. It will have an impact on the economy of not only Dhading and Gorkha but also the entire Nepal, and will help promote employment and all kinds of businesses, so the signature campaign was launched as it was seen as necessary to increase its construction immediately, said Ram Kumar Dallakoti, President of the Dhading Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He expressed regret that the dream of the common people to build the project, which has been the main trade route in the northern part of Gorkha and Dhading for a long time, has not been realized. He said that a signature campaign has been launched at the festival as a pressure to solve the problems created by the delay in the project and draw the attention of the concerned bodies to immediately implement the project.
Rohit Bhandari, Senior Vice President of the Dhading Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that more than 1,000 people, including visitors to the fair and local level people's representatives, have already signed the signature campaign that started on Thursday.
Although 50,000 residents of the former 23 VDCs of Dhading and Gorkha districts have agreed to leave the site, they have been deprived of other development as the government has not taken forward the construction work. They are disappointed that the government has brought it in the middle and left it stranded even when it was ready to leave the site as a project of pride. Jwalamukhi Rural Municipality Chairman Yamanath Danai expressed his anger, saying that the federal government has ignored the project. Tripura Rural Municipality Chairman Raju Upreti said that the government should not delay the construction of such big projects. Residents of the affected areas who participated in the signature campaign, saying that Budhi Gandaki has always been just an agenda for politicians to vote, are confident that this campaign started by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry will take shape. Yadunath Sapkota of Khare, Tripura Sundari Rural Municipality, said that the project has lagged behind in development and urged the government to immediately proceed with construction or regular development. The signature campaign will continue throughout the festival period until Magh 25. Dhading Chamber of Commerce and Industry General Secretary Tilak Singhada said that the signature will be handed over to the Nepal government immediately.
