Floods and landslides triggered by continuous rainfall on September 27-28 caused over Rs 13 billion in damages to Nepal's energy and irrigation sectors.
A report prepared by a committee formed by the government on September 30 to study the impacts of the recent monsoon-induced disasters revealed that hydropower, irrigation, embankments, and transmission lines suffered significant losses due to the disasters, the state-run national news agency RSS reported.
The committee assessed the damage to irrigation and river control projects, as well as power and transmission line projects under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), its subsidiaries, and private sector entities.
According to the findings of the committee, 27 operational hydropower projects and 19 under-construction projects sustained losses amounting to Rs 6 billion. Damage to transmission and distribution lines was valued at Rs 160 million, Shaligram Bhandari, member-secretary of the study committee and Chief Divisional Engineer at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, told RSS.
Additionally, federal irrigation and river control projects faced damages of Rs 4.98 billion, while losses in Bagmati Province reached Rs 2.43 billion. Rural electrification projects incurred damages worth Rs 207.1 million, added the report
The committee also recommended preventive measures to minimize future disaster-related losses.
The five-member committee, led by Joint Secretary Jeebachh Mandal, had been tasked with assessing damage across the energy, river control, and irrigation sectors, including the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and private hydropower ventures.
The committee presented the report to Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Minister Deepak Khadka on Tuesday. Upon receiving the report, Minister Khadka pledged to implement its recommendations, emphasizing the ministry's commitment to implement the report, RSS added.
