Construction of Central Bhote Koshi Hydropower Project Delayed

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March 20: Construction of the Central Bhote Koshi Hydropower Plant has been halted since the past two months. The hydropower project which was supposed to be completed by June last year has only met 40 percent of completion. Ministry of Energy had provided additional two years for the completion of the project but the construction is yet again stopped, according to Project Manager Sunil Kumar Lama.

According to Lama, late approval of the power house design has been hitting the construction of the project. He also expressed doubts towards the contractor’s performance since the past four years.

Earlier, Anup Kumar Upadhyay, secretary at the Ministry of Energy and Kul Mann Ghising, CEO of Nepal Electricity Authority had directed the contractor to accomplish the project within the allotted time. Kul Mann Ghising had also visited the project site for inspection and gave some suggestions to the project management team. Besides, he requested both the management and contractors to inform him about the timeframe for the construction.

Chinese company Kwangsi was awarded the contract for designing. Another company named Andraj has been awarded with the construction of Hydro Mechanical works of the project but is waiting for Kwangsi to finish its work. Hydro Mechanical works can only be initiated after the completion of civil engineering works.

Previously, CEO for Kwangsi had committed for speedy work but he has hardly been seen at the project site, stated Project Manager Lama. He travelled back to China and only arrived in Nepal about two weeks ago, added Lama.

Lama informed that construction of the dam was scheduled to completed before the start of 2075 BS but the project has been halted for more than two months which indeed will affect the schedule. He mentioned that if the design was finalized, the construction would have been moving ahead. According to him, if the design won't get ready then the construction will yet be affected during the monsoon when the river bank will be overflowed with rain water.

 The project was also hit by landslides, floods, earthquakes and economic blockade of India. Meanwhile, the delay in part of the contractor is adding more trouble in the construction.

The initial estimated budget of the project is Rs 12 billion 280 million.

Central Bhote Koshi Hydro Power Project will generate a total of 542 million units of electricity worth Rs 2 billion 904 million revenue.