Construction work has been halted after the government delayed granting land tenure rights in the conservation area to the project.
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The under-construction Rolwaling Khola Hydropower Project has been stalled for 10 months due to delays in land tenure rights. The construction work has been halted after the government delayed granting land tenure rights to the project in the conservation area.
This 22-megawatt project is being built by the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Company. The project is under construction in Bigu Rural Municipality-1 and Gaurishankar Rural Municipality-9 in the Gaurishankar Conservation Area.
On 20 Ashad 2082, the construction of the project was stopped after the Conservation Area sent a letter asking it to come and obtain land tenure rights. The Ministry of Forests has approved the Supplementary Environmental Management Plan for the land tenure rights of the government-funded project, said Purnagopal Ranjit, acting chief executive officer of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Company. ‘We have already submitted the fee to the National Parks Department for land tenure,’ he said, ‘If the work is done at a fast pace through the Ministry of Energy and the Department of Power Development, we will get the land tenure from the Council of Ministers in 2/3 weeks, after which the project work will gain momentum.’ He said that in the past, land tenure and construction work were also done with the forest.
However, he said that there was a problem in Rolwaling, which caused delays due to problems in land tenure. The project work started in 2079 BS and should have been completed in 4 years, that is, this year. However, the delay in land tenure has pushed the project work. According to the revised new schedule, the time has been extended so that the project will be completed in 2085/086.
The Chinese company SSCE and the Nepali construction company High Himalayan Hydro were jointly responsible for the civil work of the project, which is promoted by Upper Tamakoshi. Initially, a 6.2-kilometer tunnel was to be constructed to divert the water of the Rolwaling River and pump it into the Upper Tamakoshi dam. However, the project model was changed to generate an additional 22 megawatts of electricity from Rolwaling and send the water to the dam.
During the dry season, the Upper Tamakoshi has been generating 456 megawatts of electricity during peak hours for only 4 hours. Chief Ranjit said that after mixing the water of the Rolwaling River, electricity will be generated at full capacity during peak hours for 6 hours daily.
Due to the delay in construction, not only has the Upper Tamakoshi lost the electricity generated during peak hours, but the additional 22 megawatts of electricity production has also been pushed back by 3 years. Due to this, the project is in danger of getting into further debt. The cost of the construction of the Rolwaling River project is estimated at 8 billion.
The physical progress of the project should have reached 80 percent, but due to the delay in land tenure, only 20 percent physical progress has been made so far.
Due to the lack of road access, the construction company has transported the necessary equipment and materials to Gaurishankar-9 Riku by helicopter. However, he said that due to the delay in land tenure of the project, the equipment has rusted and is stuck in Riku.
