One of the main tussle between the late King Birendra and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were related to the water projects in Nepal.

India demanded that Indian companies given the first priority to any hydro and electricity related projects in Nepal but the then Govt refused to do so. Now after the LOKTANTRA, India holds keys on every political party to implement its interest and do as it wishes. 

It is believed that in a decade, India will face severe water and power crisis/shortage and one of the ways to solve problem are utilization of Nepalese land and supply water and electricity to India.

Don't believe me....Keep watching !!

GMR lands 300 MW Upper Karnali

BY BIKASH SANGRAULA

My view

I see no harm Indian companies getting to build the hydro power plans in nepal.

I see harm in Nepalese who love to provoke anti-indian attitude without analysis. Its not indains who we are to be scared of,  its of our own people who surrender because internally they realize that they are ignorant when it comes to debating with indian talence.The fact that we have potential and that we can do things on our own subsides and stand up for aimless ego trip and enjoy bickering India. See where india has reached today. the personalities of our leaders have been shadowed by indian leaders. Besides if a small creek runs parallel to an ocean the entire region is referred to as ocean, the creek becomes unnoticable. I thing most of the nepalese are suffering from that lack of attention phenomena when giant india is constatly noticed. Sheer jealousy. A lousy one. Lets learn something folks!!!!!

Instead of bickering lets reap benefits from the Indians. We have have to loose some but on a long run if handled properly we will rise high.

-sp...

When will we know the importance of stable economy in Nepal than useless exaggerated sense of self importance and blabbering of hallow nationalism?

Bhutan is very much similar to Nepal in terms of geology. Bhutan was poorer than Nepal a decade ago. Now Bhutan is richer than Nepal and very less percentage of Bhutanese are under poverty, thanks to booming hydro power industry.

The fact is, it is not Indians who are taking advantage on us, rather it is us, Nepalese, who don’t know how to deal with big neighbors. We love to hate India because we think it is our moral right to hate them. And hating India make us think that we are pure nationalist.

GP

No one is in America and abraod because he will die hungry in Nepal. I know many a fren who had decent job and good financial standing back in Nepal are in America, Australia, UK, Japan, etc. Even if we go back to Nepal now, we can live at least a moderate life (may not be the same as we are living abroad).  No doctor will remain idle if they really go back to Nepal. Most of the engineers will also be employed. Since we all are trying to jump to the top of Mt. Everest overnight, the available resources may not be enough. Ultimately we point out our fingers towards politicians and say he/she is corrupted; s/he is useless, they are uneducated; they don't listen to the educated folks, so on and so forth. The country should have enough production and people should be productive, then only leaders can give enough monies!!! Isn't it?

Barring few ocassions (very rarely), have you ever seen doctors, engineers, professors, corporate executives lawyers coming out to the street and protesting againt the misdeed of the government? Isn't it their responsiblitiy to teach common folks, who are mostly uneducated (due to lack of opportunities) how to protest in decent ways? These common folks are doing in the same way whatever they learnt. But we proudly say situation in Nepal is really bad; we cannot go back to Nepal; we are shamed of being Nepali, Nepali Janatas are bheda and many more. 

Let's come back to the point.

- Who is there to scrutinize the documents/contracts? Where are the so called scholars; how many scholars and water experts have presented their atlernative views?

- Let's say, Interim Parliament doesn't have legitimate power, how long you are gonna keep the development in limbo; what do you think is the alternative way? We are educted people, we should give the clear answer. We can not blame the politicians again. If they shouldn't do that, what should they have done? Not only question, come up with answers.

- What is the alternative to dam breaks? If there are, you can give the advice.

- What should have been there in the contract in the event the principal/contractor's period is over? 

  I have no doubts you have raised good questions. We are expert in raising the questions, but have no solutions. Eventually we turn towards our politicians for excuse.    

removed.

Thank you so much for the nomenclature.

I am sorry, I was not intending to offend you. If you are not satisfied with my views, you can simply discard them. I was expecting rational and sensible brainstroms but you landed with something else.

In fact, I was not thinking of utilizing internal resources (I mean adequate capital lying idle in commercial banks of Nepal and also under the carpet). Nepal does not really need FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), I understand now!!! 

This reminded me of Hisila Yami's plan to mobilize local resources for the Melamchi Project. Ultimately, she got a sigh of relief once ADB assured of funding after Prachanda's miserable pleas.

Like you guys, I am not against the use of internal resources. Some local companies like BPC are doing very well too. No one has talked about begging and against the investment by local enterpreneurs. The matter is only of protesting the recent deal with GMR, that happens to be Indian.

Estimated hydropower potential of Nepal is about 83K MW,out of which about 43K MW is considered economically viable. Almost 25% of the total population has access to electricity now. If load shedding is to take into account, the figure comes below 15%. If the current distribution rate is to be maintained, Nepal needs additional ~$5billion (~Rs 350 bn) in investment in the next 5/7 years as per world bank estimate. Forget about the 100% access to electricity. We have already seen the dream of West Seti 750 MW project by Snowy Mountain (Australia). Who else is coming in Nepal to invest other than India given her (India's) dire need of power (about 6000MW annual increasing power need, only able to meet half of it). 

Even the foolish person prefers local resources mobilization. But given the situation, our investment capacity and pathetic queue for the petrol and kerosene (even electricity is generated by using diseal roters), I don't really understand the basic principles/logic against the protest of the deal.

Thanks.

Himtal to Sell 80% Stake to GMR

The Indian company GMR Energy Ltd. has entered into a share purchase and joint venture agreement to acquire 80 percent stake of Himtal Hydro Power Co. (P) Ltd., which is implementing a 250-MW Upper Marsyangdi-2 Hydro Power project. In a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange, GMR Infrastructure, the parent company of GMR Energy, has notified that the relevant application has been submitted to the authorities of Nepal seeking their approval for the proposed joint venture and to start the feasibility study and environmental impact assessment.

Reports quoting Brindawanman Pradhananga, Chairman of Himtal, state that the project with its construction sites in Manang and Lamjung, was originally estimated to generate 125 MW which has now been increased to 250 MW after GMR showed interest in the project. The joint-venture deal between Himtal and GMR was signed during the energy convention held at Kathmandu last year. The total cost for the project at 125 MW capacity was estimated at 200 million US dollars which will go up as the capacity is now to be expanded.

सिक्टा विवाद कायमै / पाँच करोडको काम रोकियो

कुमार श्रेष्ठ, (बाँके)।
राज्यको आन्तरिक लगानीको सबैभन्दा ठूलो प्रोजेक्ट सिक्टा सिंचाई आयोजनाको विवादले ठूलो रूप लिँदै गएको छ। पाँच दिनदेखिको बन्दले आयोजनामा ५ करोड रुपियाँबराबरको काम रोकिइसकेको छ।

चाइनिज ठेकेदार कम्पनी सिनो-हाइड्रोका मजदुर र नेपाली मजदुरबीच सोमबार झडप भएपछि आयोजनाको काम कारबाही ठप्प भएको हो। दैनिक ७०/८० लाख रुपियाँ बराबरको काम हुने आयोजनामा पाँच दिनदेखि काम कारबाही अघि बढ्न सकेको छैन।

मजदुरहरुले राखेको ३८ बुँदे मागमध्ये तलब वृद्धिको बाहेक अन्य माग पूरा भइसकेका छन्। मजदुरहरुले अहिलेको तलबमा १७ प्रतिशतले वृद्धि हुनुपर्ने अडान राखेका छन् भने ठेकेदार कम्पनीले नेपालको श्रम कानुनअनुसारको रकम दिन तयार रहेको जनाएको छ।

शुक्रबार दलका मजदुर संगठनका प्रतिनिधि, ठेकेदार कम्पनी र मजदुरबीच भएको छलफल पनि बिनानिष्कर्ष नै टुंगिएको छ।

नेपाली मजदुरहरु १७ बाट १२ प्रतिशतमा झरेको र ठेकेदार कम्पनीले प्रतिदिन प्रतिव्यक्ति ५ रुपियाँ बढाइदिने बताए पनि सहमति हुन नसकेको आयोजनाका प्रमुख कृष्णप्रसाद तिमिल्सेनाले बताउनुभयो।

ठेकेदार कम्पनीले शुक्रबार पनि विवाद नमिलेकाले शनिबारदेखि काम थाल्ने दाबी गरेको छ। यता, नेपाली मजदुरहरुले भने कुनै पनि हालतमा काम कारबाही अगाडि बढाउन नदिने अडान राखेका छन्।

ठेकेदार कम्पनीले केही मजदुरलाई साथमा लिएर काम गर्न अगाडि आएमा र अरुको कारणले काम रोकिएमा उसले प्रतिदिन नेपाल सरकारसँग ३० लाख रुपियाँसम्म क्षतिपूर्ति माग गर्न सक्छ।

जिल्लाको ३६ गाविसको ३१ हजार हेक्टर जमिन सिंचाई हुने सिक्टाको हेडवर्क्स निर्माण भइरहेको छ। त्यहाँ ६ सय नेपाली र ४० जना चिनियाँ मजदुरले काम गरिरहेका छन्।

दैनिक भइरहेको छलफलले समस्या समाधान नभएपछि आयोजना प्रमुख तिमिल्सेना राजनीतिक दल र प्रहरी प्रशासनलाई गुहार गर्ने सोचमा पुग्नुभएको छ।

ँठेकेदार कम्पनीले आफ्ना ४० जना चिनियाँ र केही नेपाली कामदारलाई लिएर काम गर्न गयो र हामीले त्यसको वातावरण बनाउन सकेनौं भने उसले क्षतिपूर्ति दाबी गर्न सक्छ’, आयोजना प्रमुख तिमिल्सेनाले भन्नुभयो- ँकाम नगरीकनै ठेकेदार कम्पनीलाई दैनिक ३० लाखसम्म राज्यले दिनुपर्यो भने हाम्रो हालत के होला ?’

India positive on providing Nepal 40 MW

Request for another 20 MW from Tanakpur

POST REPORT

AB Thapa 

AB Thapa 


Several dailies including THE KATHMANDU POST of  January 25, 2008 reported horrifying news that the Ministry of Water Resources has signed a MoU with a GMR team to finalize the deal to allow latter to implement the 300 MW Upper Karnali Project. The MoU to implement the 300 MW Upper Karnali Hydropower  is going to be a suicidal deal.  The Karnali people will be robbed of the great opportunity to benefit from their vast water wealth as a result of the decision to implement the 300 MW Upper Karnali project.   

The proposed 300 MW Upper Karnali project can be implemented only at  the cost of sacrificing the 4180 MW Upper Karnali Storage project According to the pre-feasibility study report  the 300 MW Upper Karnali project and the 4180 MW Upper Karnali storage project are mutually exclusive. The 4180 MW Upper Karnali project is the most attractive hydropower among the projects identified so far in Nepal. It far excels even the highly attractive 10,800 MW Karnali Chisapani project in performance to generate electricity at extremely low cost on a massive scale.  It can be roughly said that the 4180 MW Upper Karnali project might be able to produce  as much as 50% of the total energy generated  by the 10,800 MW Karnali Chisapani project at  only about 1/3 cost of the latter.  

The overwhelming superiority of the 4180 MW  Upper Karnali storage project among the large hydropower projects identified so far in Nepal  is so obvious that the team of the consultants conducting the pre-feasibility  study of  the 300 MW Upper Karnali project  under the financial assistance of the World Bank found themselves duty bound to  warn  us to refrain from harming the 4180 MW Upper Karnali  storage project. They have clearly stated in the pre-feasibility report that the construction of  the 300 MW Upper Karnali project will preclude the implementation of the 4180 MW Upper Karnali storage project.   
Is Parliamentary Committee Adequately Informed? 

It is reported in the newspaper that at some stage the Parliamentary Natural Resources and Means Committee was also involved. It is not clear whether or not  the Parliamentary Committee was informed about the fact that the 300 MW Upper Karnali project and the mammoth 4180 MW Upper Karnali storage project are mutually exclusive. Do all the members of the Parliamentary  Committee  know the whole truth about the Upper Karnali projects?  Is the Acharya task force or another Committee under the former finance secretary, set up to advise the Government, competent  to make satisfactory recommendation, which requires in-depth analysis of  all relevant technical documents? .  
People Must be Informed 

There is no escaping the fact it is not possible to implement the proposed 300 MW Upper  Karnali project without sacrificing the most attractive 4180 MW Upper Karnali storage project. Do not the people of our country have the right to know from the Water Resources Ministry and Parliamentary Natural Resources and Means  Committee why the mammoth 4180 MW Upper Karnali storage project is being sacrificed to implement  the relatively tiny 300 Upper Karnali project? 
Why Upper Karnali Storage So Attractive 

The Karnali  river makes  a  big  loop  in its  lower  reach  near  a  place  called  Asare. From here  the  river  flows  in  the  south-east  direction  for  about  25  kilometers,  after  that  the  river  makes  a  complete  reversal  in  its  direction.  The  river  comes  back  to  a  point   just  two  kilometers  away   from  its   earlier  position  near Asare.  There  is  a  drop  of  about   150  meters  in   Karnali  river  bed  elevations  between  these  two  positions  merely   two  kilometers  away  from   one  another The  project  to  utilize  this  bend  for  power  generation  is  known  as  the  Upper  Karnali  Project.   . There  are very good sites to build a  large  storage dam  at  the  beginning of  the bend.  Thus, it makes the Upper Karnali  Storage Project far superior to the  10,800 MW Karnali  Chisapani Project  in terms of  per unit capacity  investment cost because its hydropower station would be operating at a firm head two times greater than that of the latter though the total length of the waterway  of both these hydropower plants would be almost exactly the same.  
Large Cost Reduction at Higher Heads 

Of  all  the  site  characteristics, head  is  the  most  important.   Design  guidelines, 1989 approved  by  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers (  a  document  used  throughout  the  world   for  the  design  of  hydropower) has   given  some  simple  reasoning  that  would   help to  explain   why  the  Upper  Karnali  project  operating  at   a  head    about  two  times   greater  by  comparison  with   the  Chisapani   hydropower  could  be  built  at   far  less   per  unit   installed   capacity  cost. "Very  simply  if  one  doubles  the  head  the  quantity of  water  needed  to  produce  a  certain  amount  of  energy is  halved, Thus, for  like  site energy  development  the  conduit   area  and  reservoir  volume  are halved  and  further  large  cost  reductions  occur for  powerhouse  and  machinery  costs. This  fundamental   consideration  is  at  the   root  of  the  large  cost  reductions  that  occur  at  higher heads."  Needless  to  mention  that  the  lower  investment  cost  means  the  generation  cost  of  the  electricity  would  also  be  less.  
Comparative Investment Cost of Upper Karnali Storage 

By  comparison  with  the  mammoth  10,800  MW  Karnali  Chisapani  Project  the  firm head  of  the  Upper Karnali  Storage Project  would  be almost  two  times  greater.  It  can  be  derived  based  on  Stage  A  Optimization  Study  Data  of   the  World  Bank financed   Karnali  Project (Chisapani)  Study  report  that  per  KW  installed  capacity  construction  cost  of  the Upper  Karnali  Storage  Project  could  be  only  about  2/3   of  such  cost  of  the  project  at  Chisapani.  If such comparative cost reduction advantage is treated as  additional bonus to accrue to Nepal on top of normal royalty to be received from private developer then our country might be able to  earn per year at present  cost of peaking energy  about US $ 300 million as extra bonus which is equivalent  to gross value of  the total  annual production of paddy in the whole country considered to be between 2.5 to 3  million tons at a price of  about US $ 100 per ton. 
Upper Karnali Pre-feasibility Report 

The  World  Bank  supported  pre-feasibility  study  has  clearly explained  that the 4180 MW Upper Karnali Storage Project and the 300 MW Upper Karnali Diversion Project  are mutually exclusive. The relevant  excerpt  from  the World  Bank supported    study  report  is  presented  below.  

“Even  when  assuming that  the  KR 1 A  run-of-river  project (it indicates the  small  300 MW Upper  Karnali  project) is  a  sunk cost, it  will be  seen  that  a  single large  power  plant (4180 MW)  associated  with  the  major  storage  project is  less  costly  than the  combined  cost  of  smaller  plant  at  the  same  location (3532 MW)  and  a  second  power plant at  the foot  of  the storage  dam ( 348 MW)  discharging directly  into  the KR 1A  run-of-river  project  head  pond.   Based  on  this  assessment, it  appears  that  the  later  development  of the major  hydro  storage  project at  Site KR 1  (  4180 MW  Upper  Karnali Storage Project)  would  cause  the  KR 1A  run-of-river  project  to  be  effectively  discontinued.  There  may be  limited opportunity  for  secondary  energy  generation during  the  periods of spillage”.  
Foreign Expert Against 300 MW Upper Karnali 

Mr. Paul Terrell  from the Bechtel International of the USA  was Chief Advisor Consultant   of the Upper Karnali Project study conducted under the World Bank financial assistance. Mr. Paul Terrell has categorically cautioned Nepal in his article published in the journal “HIMAL” that our country should never compromise optimum development for the sake of a quick deal.   
In Conclusion 

Our  grandiose  national  plans  to  develop  our  water  resources  to  uplift  the  economic  condition  of  our country in general and the people of Karnali in particular would  be  nothing  more  than an  empty  rhetoric  if  we failed  to  intervene  in time  to  save  the  4180  MW  Upper  Karnali Storage  Project  which  might  be  the  best even in  the  whole world  for  the  generation  of  cheap  peaking  energy  on  a  large  scale.  We should not hesitate to invite competent  foreign  experts  for  advice if  we  find   ourselves  not  capable  to make  correct   judgment  on  this  very  important  matter. 
	
    

          

           
 
 
 

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अरुण-३ बनाउन सम्झौता

बलराम बानिया“/विकास थापा

Along the line...

http://www.kantipuronline.com/Nepal/followup.php

इजिप्टबाट प्रकाशित हुने मिडल इस्ट टाइम्सको माघ २३ गतेको अङ्कमा भारतीय बाह्य गुप्तचर संस्था 'र'का प्रमुख अशोक चतुर्वेदीबारे यस्ता धेरै रमाइला प्रसङ्गहरू पढ्न पाइन्छ  । पत्रिकाका वासिङ्टन डिसीस्थित सम्पादक क्लाउडी सल्हानीले लेखेको समाचारमा गत पुस ३ गतेको चतुर्वेदीको नेपाल आगमन पनि निकै विवादित बनेको उल्लेख छ ।

त्यतिबेला सात राजनीतिक दललाई थप २३ बुँदे सहमतिमा पुर्‍याउन भूमिका खेलेका चतुर्वेदीको नेपाल भ्रमणमा उनको व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थ पनि जोडिएको समाचारको दाबी छ । "नेपालको जलविद्युतमा कुनै एक भारतीय ऊर्जा कम्पनीको लगानी सुनिश्चित गर्न उनी लागिपरेका थिए," चतुर्वेदी भ्रमणको व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थ उजागर गर्दै मिडल इस्ट टाइम्स लेख्छ, "त्यसो गरेर उनले राम्रै आर्थिक लाभ लिएको चर्चा भारतीय प्रधानमन्त्री कार्यालयमा व्यापक छ ।" नेपाल तथा बङ्गलादेशसम्बन्धी मामिलाका विशेषज्ञ मानिने चतुर्वेदीले प्रधानमन्त्री गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइरालासंगको भेटका क्रममा उनको अप्रत्यक्ष संलग्नता रहेको भनिएको एक ऊर्जा कम्पनीलाई नेपालको कुनै एक जलविद्युत् परियोजना दिलाउन व्यापक दबाव दिएको पनि समाचारमा उल्लेख छ ।

___________________

Ministries waffle over gifted hydro project

BY BIKASH SANGRAULA