Obstacle in Damauli–Bharatpur transmission line removed

By Amar Raj Naharki,Tanahun, Mar. 29: The long-standing procedural obstacles in the construction of the Damauli–Bharatpur 220 kV transmission line under the Tanahun Hydropower Project have finally been resolved.

With the settlement of legal and financial complications related to forest land use and tree felling, the project has now gained momentum. Although approval had already been granted by the Council of Ministers to use the required forest land and remove trees, delays in arranging compensation amount had affected the progress.

Recently, after receiving financial assurance from the Ministry of Finance and completing a formal agreement with the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation, work in the field has resumed, according to the Tanahun Hydropower Project.

According to the project, marking of trees within national and community forest areas in Tanahun and Chitwan districts is currently under way at a rapid pace.

In coordination with the concerned forest division offices, the project, and community forest user groups, the process of identifying 9,127 trees within the right-of-way and tower construction sites has begun. The transmission line, which is approximately 34.7 kilometres long, will have a total of 94 towers. Of these, the foundations of 78 towers have already been completed, and installation of 69 towers has also been completed.

Project Chief Shyamji Bhandari said that about 99 per cent of the materials required for the transmission line have already reached the construction site.

Due to forest-related issues, final works such as extending transmission lines and erecting the remaining towers had been halted, but these activities have now accelerated, he said.

Under Package 3, the overall physical progress of the transmission line has reached 76 per cent. With the forest-related problems resolved, the Indian contractor company KEC International Limited has accelerated the remaining work.

Other major components of the project are also progressing satisfactorily, including dam construction under Package 1 and tunnel and powerhouse construction under Package 2.