Construction of the 40MW Rahughat hydropower project in Raghuganga Rural Municipality of Myagdi district has been halted owing to the Interim Order of the Supreme Court that forbade the Project from excavating the river-based products needed to carry out the construction work.
As the Project is not able to excavate stone, gravel and sand from the location mentioned in the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) report, the construction has been halted, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The locations were decided through IEE, and according to it, necessary river materials required for the construction should be excavated from the Kaligandaki River.
Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Cholendra Shumsher Rana, on August 3, 2019, issued an interim order to stop doing any activities that would adversely impact the Kaligandaki River, considering its religious, historical and environmental importance.
Therefore, until the final verdict is delivered, diverting the natural flow of the river to create a reservoir, extracting river materials, stealing and destroying, Shaligram and so on, is forbidden.
A team, including Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kul Man Ghising inspected the construction site on Saturday.
During the inspection, contractors and project management apprised the monitoring team of the Supreme Court’s interim order that forbade the exploitation of the river-based products.
On the occasion, Minister Basnet said that the progress of the project was satisfactory, and said that necessary initiatives, coordination and facilitation would be done from the top level to solve the problems associated with the extraction of the river-based materials. He instructed the contractors to complete the construction of the project in time.
The contractor companies have promised to complete the construction within the next 15 months if the current shortage of river-based construction materials such as stone, gravel, and sand is solved. The overall physical progress of the project is 65 per cent. The dams, main tunnels, powerhouses and other structures are being constructed.
Out of the 6.3 km main tunnel, 5.6 km has been dug. Along with the construction work of the power plant, equipment are also being installed.
About 150,000 cubic meters of stone, gravel and sand are required for the construction of concrete lining and structures in the dam area.
About a year and a half ago, the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee of the Federal Parliament monitored the site and concluded that the cost of the project would rise due to the lack of construction materials.
The committee recommended that it was appropriate to review the government’s interim order to remove river products without harming the river.
Raghuganga Hydropower Ltd. is solely owned by the Authority, and comprises the investment of the government of Nepal, the Nepal Electricity Authority and a concessional loan from the Export Import (Exim) Bank of India.
Exim Bank of India has provided a concessional loan of USD 67 million for the project, which has an estimated cost of USD 81.9 million. About 247.9 million units of electricity will be produced annually from the project which can be picked for 6 hours daily.
Under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) framework, the Civil structure and hydro-mechanical works are being carried out by Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., and Electromechanical works are being done by Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. and Construction Supervision is done by Wapcos Ltd., India.
