A semi-reservoir hydropower project is going to be constructed in Daraundi river in Gorkha municipality-13, with a total project cost of Rs 2.20 billion.
Dr Dumbar Bahadur Nepali, the president of the company informed that a hydropower project with a capacity of 9.84 megawatts is going to be constructed in the Daraudi River under the promotion of Manakamana Daraudi Hydropower Company Limited. He said that during the construction of the project, 70 percent of the total investment will be invested through debt and the rest will be invested through equity.
“A hydropower project is going to be built on the Daraundi River so that there will be a power station in Simalgaira”, he said. “The project will be built by building a dam on the Daraudi River and a dam on the Ratdanda of Karmasing Fant.”
The project will cover a total area of 440 plants including Gorkha-12, 13 and 14, Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-1, 2 and 3 and Palungtar Municipality-3 wards. According to the environmental impact assessment and preliminary environmental test report, the project will occupy 123 ropanis of arable land, 292 ropanis of scrubland, 38 ropanis of permanent and temporary land and 17 ropanis of community forest area.
“The main structure of the project will be located in the access area of the Gorkha-Abukhaireni road section”, said Anil Nepal, engineer of the project, “The watershed area of the semi-reserved project will be 536.54 square kilometers.”
The company has also collected opinions and suggestions by conducting a public hearing program to finalize the environmental impact assessment report after understanding the views of the residents of the project construction site and the affected areas. During the public hearing, the local people made demands such as participation in the project, proper compensation for land acquisition, employment for the local people, provision of shares in the project to the residents of the inundation and affected areas.
Balram KC the company’s owner said that, after incorporating the suggestions of the residents of the affected area, will now submit the environmental impact assessment to the Ministry of Forests and Environment for approval and after the approval from the Ministry, they will submit an application to the Department of Electricity for the power generation permit.
After getting the permission from the Department, the company plans to start construction of the project from mid-January, 2024. The company aims to produce electricity within two and a half years after the construction of the project.
