By Amar Raj Naharki, Tanahun, May 28: Despite the prohibitory order announced by the government to combat the second wave of the Coronavirus the construction of the Tanahun Hydropower Limited has been ongoing in full swing.

The Tanahu Hydropower Limited has said that the center for district level COVID emergency management held a meeting where they decided to let the work continue while following safety protocols.

The Chief District Officer of Tanahun, Sagar Acharya has said that the construction is taking place by ensuring that there is adequate social distancing, the use of hand sanitisers, and by asking workers to restrict their movement once the day is over.

The Chief of Tanahun Hydropower Project Achyut Ghimire has said that for the construction work there are 10 people for the project, 35 advisors, 45 employees, and 535 workers hired for the work.

He further said that last year during the first wave when the government had mandated a lockdown, the construction came to a halt for ten days. However, after that, the work has continued despite government prohibitory orders for the country as well as major festivals and public holidays.

Last year when the government had announced a lockdown, contractual obligations to finish the first phase of the work, channeling the river into the desired direction and the construction of embankment had already been set to 23^rd March which was the reason why the work continued despite the prohibitory order.

For the first phase of the work 1.6 billion rupees had been estimated for the work. According to the agreement with the company that has been entrusted with the task of the construction, 57 weeks had been set as the target for the company to finish the construction which is the reason why the work has continued despite the prohibitory order.   

The second phase of the construction which is currently underway has been to dig tunnels and lay underground wires and construct work stations for the hydropower plant.

The second phase also includes the installation of various electromechanical and hydro-mechanical equipment required for the construction of the hydropower project.

The third phase of the project includes laying a double circuit of 220kv from Damauli to Bharatpur. For this line, 40 workers have been hired.       

The cost of the entire project will be 505 million USD. For the project, ADB has contributed 15 million USD. Japan International Cooperation Agency has provided 14 million USD followed by the European Investment bank which has contributed 8.5 million USD followed by the Nepal government and Nepal Electricity Authority which has contributed 8.6 million USD.

The under-construction hydropower project will be able to provide 140 MW of electricity. After Kulekhani since this hydropower project will be able to provide water during the dry season, the government has put this project as a priority. Chief Ghimire has said that during the dry season electricity needs to be imported from India so the government has put this project on priority.

The place for the hydropower project was identified in 2005-2006 and once the project is completed this project will be the second one in Nepal that will be able to produce 140 MW a year. The dam of the project will be able to store 295 million cubic meters of water.

The embankment of dam in Dule hill near Damauli will be 140 meters high. A tunnel of 1162 meters has been built in Kuhadanda where the waters of the Seti River will be directed to an underground electricity generation station. The Tanahun Hydroelectric project which will be connected to the 220 kv of the double circuit line to Bharatpur eventually connecting it to the National electric grid.