Kalikot locals urge Phukot Karnali work to resume

By Prem Raj Simkhada,Kalikot, Jan. 29: Local people have drawn the attention of the District Administration Office of Kalikot, demanding that work on the Phukot Karnali semi-reservoir hydropower project be resumed. Citing the prolonged halt in construction, locals have urged the construction company, through the administration, to restart the project.

The Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited had begun work after obtaining permission from the Department of Electricity Development in 2018 for a survey of the 480-MW project in Kalikot district. But construction work of the Phukot Karnali semi-reservoir hydropower project has remained stalled for the past two years.

The project came to a standstill after a case was filed in court following an agreement made by then prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to allocate 51 per cent of the project’s shares to an Indian company. Although the case has since been dismissed, locals say the company has yet to resume work and have therefore sought the administration’s intervention. 

Chief District Officer Gokarna Raj Suyal said that locals had demanded the resumption of construction.

However, according to him, he understood that the project could not move forward as the full text of the court verdict has not yet been received, and the Indian company NHPC India Limited, which holds the 51 per cent stake, has also raised various issues. 

Work will only proceed once certain ambiguities between the Nepali and Indian companies are clarified, said Suyal. 

The right side of the project dam lies in Sanni Triveni Rural Municipality–3, while the left side is in Khadachakra Municipality–1. The project study report states that the main dam will have a height of 160 metres from the foundation and 109 metres from the riverbed level. The crest length of the dam will be 313 metres, with a width of 10 metres.

Land acquisition for the project has already been completed. More than Rs. 450 million has been spent on compensation to local residents. A total of 1,075 ropanis of land is to be acquired for the project. Although most of the land acquisition has been completed, construction work has yet to move forward.

The plan includes excavating a 520-metre test tunnel at Sisnegada in Sanni Triveni-3, constructing a 160-metre-high dam, and connecting the project through a 13.5-km tunnel to a power station to be built at Bhautegada in Sanni Triveni–1.

Responsibility for constructing the project has been awarded to an Indian government-owned company. Although the dismissal of the case opposing the handover of the project to an Indian company has cleared the way for construction to move ahead, work has still not begun. The total estimated cost of the project, including interest, is Rs. 92 billion.