Nepali Version

With self-proclaimed domain on matters of executive expediency, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a “no- further- action- unless- clearance” notice to the Government of Nepal on the much debated West Seti Hydropower Project (WSHP).

On the one hand, this has sparked a never-ending debate as to how Nepal should develop its water resource. On the other hand, agitators of the troubled waters of Nepal seem to have received shots of extra energy, after having realised their guilt and remained moribund for quite some time following the Arun III debacle and, more particularly, after being beaten and driven out by the locals while trying to instigate the people against the Kali Gandaki ‘A’ hydro project.

Self-interest

Unfortunately, the waters of Nepal have been troubled by these agitators looking for their prey. And when any such opportunity comes, they hit it hard to fulfil their self-interest. Arun III is a project where the people have now realised how naive they had been at that time and were unable to differentiate between friend and foe. The pangs of the long hours of load shedding would have been non-thinkable had there been Arun III, which would have further opened the doors for other projects on the same river upstream and downstream.

Everyone knows that the WSHP was extensively vetted by the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources (NRC) wherein all the main political parties were represented. While screening the project, consultations were also made with the private and public experts. The committee finally concluded that the project must be built as proposed by the private developer. It did point out, however, that the government should be given 10 per cent free energy, not its price, at the delivery point at the plant which was subsequently agreed by the developer.

There is no rationale at this stage to once again vet the project by the PAC. This has raised many complications like conflict of jurisdiction between the parliamentary committees and the overall trust of the investors on the functioning of the Nepalese government and the state. If this sort of uncertainty at any stage of a project is to be the norm in our country, no foreign investor will venture to come and invest.

As regards the issue of lean season - flow regulation and its downstream- benefit - sharing the water resources was not only discussed earlier in the Natural Resources Committee but also litigated in the Supreme Court (SC). Both the NRC and the SC found that there was no issue of sharing the water resources or its benefits between the downstream country and Nepal. Nepal is not compromising its rights on the regulated flow. It has all the rights to divert the water in its territory wherever it likes and that the agreement entered between the government and SMEC, one of the investors, does not attract the jurisdiction of Article 156 of the interim constitution.

The court finally turned down the writ petition of the agitators, and the deck was cleared for the execution of the project. Against this background, the recent “status quo” notice by the PAC has in reality made a mockery of the system of governance in this country.

As regards the people of the far west and particularly of the project affected areas, their main concern is over issues of compensation and livelihood. It is a fact that the Far-western Development Region is less developed compared to other regions of the country. Due mainly to the centralised planning and operational system of the government, the potentiality of the far west was never unleashed. Hundreds and thousands of people have been habituated to seasonal migration in India in quest of menial jobs to make their ends meet due mainly to the lack of means at home. The WSHP was a hope of the people of the area, a dream they have been shown for the last 14/15 years.

The agitators have, as in the past in other projects, done their best in trying to create confusion, spread rumours and falsify the fact regarding the WSHP. However, people have now started to realise the hidden agenda of the agitators for enriching themselves with the fat money which they get from the thermal lobby in the world to doom projects of this type anywhere in the world. Thanks to the WSHP’s information strategy, which has focussed on the dissemination of information about the project door to door and educating the people of the area about the benefits and losses, their livelihood and compensation issues, this has been helpful in bringing out the truth and developing a better relationship between the project and the people.

On matters of resettlement of the project-affected people from the hills to the plains, some issues have been raised by the people of the plains. The issues mainly are concerned with the negative effects on the people of the plains such as their culture, tradition, land holding, pressure on the public utilities and so on.

Some of these issues are genuine and must be addressed to the satisfaction of the local people. The benefits of the project must go in some way or the other to the plains also where the up-rooted people from the hills are to be settled. This can easily be worked out through negotiation among the people. The agitators have been taking advantage of the federal structure of the would-be constitution and create a cleavage between the hill people and the people in the plains and their associated rights.

Structure of federalism

In the first place, nobody knows how the future federalism shall be structured in the country. Secondly federalism, no matter what kind, does not mean creating unnecessary conflict between the people of the same country. Moreover, interdependence is the key to the working of any federalism. The agitators have not been able so far to make a dent on this issue.

Hence, it is clear that no matter what the agitators against the development of water resources, in general, and WSHP, in particular, would do, the people of Nepal are different from what they were during the Arun-III debacle. This time, if they resort to the same tactics, trouble is waiting for them.

(A permanent resident of Dhangadhi, Kailali, the writer is a researcher on socio-development issues. He can be reached at ar.upadhyaya@gmail.com)

Full Text Courtesy: The Rising Nepal/Alok Raj Upadhyay 

In energy literatures, Nepal is consistently referred to as one of the biggest sources for hydro power generation in the world – some even claiming that this country ranks second in hydro potentiality with possible generation of over 80,000 MW.
 
On the contrary, the country has been reeling under acute electricity crisis for some time now. A major embarrassment for the government has been the criticism it has been facing for its failure to address this power crisis. Of course, a country with so much potentiality of hydropower living in darkness is quite an irony.
 
The successive governments after the country turned into a republic have given enough assurances to address the power crisis and closure of industries caused by it. The Maoist-led government announced to produce 10,000 MW in the next 10 years and its successor UML-led coalition expanded the limited to 25,000 MW. Similar assurances had surfaced following 1990-revolution.

 The whole story of assurances on power shortages is vividly reflected in the present state of West Seti Hydro (WSH), the largest plant to this day receiving permission from the government. Leased for 30 years to an Australian company, the government had signed the agreement on condition to get 10 percent of the 750 MW power free of cost besides getting full ownership of the plant at the termination of contract.
 
The WSH even agreed for energy royalty of 2 percent of the total project revenue over the first 15 years and 10 percent thereafter, capacity royalty of Rs 100/kW per year for the first 15 years and Rs 1000/kW thereafter, export duty of 0.05 percent, forest leasehold and land taxes, corporate tax on profits and project dividends as a 15 percent shareholder.

Full Text Courtesy : Nepalnews.com

According to an official letter dated June 21 from Department of Electricity Development (DoED) under the Ministry of Water Resources, the GoN has formed a Project Steering Committee (PSC) and a Project Task Force (PTF) for West Seti.
The letter has asked West Seti Hydro, the promoter of the project, to coordinate with the PSC and PTF to review the progress, rectify the problems hindering the progress of the project, and identify measures to be taken for expediting the project’s work.

A member of the National Planning Commission responsible for energy development will chair the 10-member PSC having secretaries as members from various ministries including the Finance, Home Affairs and Water Resources while the Director General of DoED is a member-secretary.

Likewise, the Director General of DoED has been appointed as chairman of PTF, which has five members in total. A Senior Divisional Engineer from project promotion section under DoED will act as the Member-Secretary in the task force that consists of a joint secretary each from the ministries of Finance, Environment, Science and Technology and Local Development.

The terms of reference of the PSC requires the review of the progress of the project based on periodic reports to be submitted by the PTF, and respond to measures to be proposed by any agencies including the Asian Development Bank, the investors, the lenders or contractors.

The PTF will be held responsible to facilitate communications between the PSC and West Seti Hydro, and with other stakeholders. The task force will also coordinate the various district level offices to harbour support and actions.

The Department of Electricity Development (DoED) under the Ministry of Energy formed a ten-member PSC and a five-member PTF to ensure effective implementation of the WSHEP located in Doti and Baitadi districts in the Far-western region. 
According to Tuesday’s DoED letter to WSHEP, the West Seti Hydro, the promoter of the project will coordinate with PSC and PTF to review progress and rectify problems hindering the progress of the project, and identify measures to be taken for expediting project work.

A member from energy sector under the National Planning Commission will chair the 10-member PSC, which has secretaries as members from various ministries including Finance, Home Affairs and Ministry of Energy.
Likewise, the director general of DoED has been appointed chairman of PTF.

PSC will review the progress of the project on the basis of periodic reports and submit its report to PTF, and respond to measures to be proposed by agencies including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), investors, lenders and contractors, a WSHEP press statement on Tuesday stated.

Meanwhile, PSF will be responsible for facilitating communication between PSC and West Seti Hydro and other stakeholders. The task force will also coordinate with various district level offices.

Two weeks ago, as per the agreement between the government and ADB, WSHEP had formed an Independent Panel of Experts for successful completion of the much-awaited project.

The Kathmandu Post / 24 June 2009

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The panel, which was formed encompassing social, environmental and hydropower sectors, includes the noted personalities from the Far West, and consists of Prof. Dr. Hari Datta Lekhak, Prof. Dr. Hem Raj Pant and Kriti Chand Thakur.

As per the approval from the Government of Nepal and ADB, the project has formed PoE to independently review the socio-environmental aspects of the project. The panel will suggest both the GoN and the promoting company for making the project’s activities effective, timely, standard and investment-friendly.

Further, the PoE will also monitor resettlement, land acquisition and compensation issues, as well as matters related to gender, indigenous and vulnerable communities, consultation and public activities, human resource management and capacity building.

Who are the experts?

Prof. Dr. Hem Raj Pant, 54, is a renowned educationist from the Far West, who has been serving as a Campus Chief in Kailali Campus for more than 22 years. A permanent resident of Uchchakot in Doti, Pant has a doctorial degree from Kumaun University, India. A key figure of civil society, Pant has done research and consultation works on various social sectors. He also has contributed for educational development in the region by making his direct involvement in the various task forces formed by the government for establishing university in the region.

Prof. Dr.Hari Datta Lekhak, a permanent resident of Dasharath Chand Municipality in Baitadi district, is an environmentalist. He is a former Head of Department at Central Department of Botany (Tribhuvan University) in Kirtipur. Lekhak is a Ph.D in plant life with special reference to leaf and stomatal behaviour in Indian desert from Jodhpur University, Rajasthan. 65-year-old Lekhak has written two books and dozens of research papers on natural resource conservation and sustainable development. He is also involved in a number of social and literary groups. Lekhak is also a former Dean at Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University and former Campus Chief of S.N. Science Campus, Kanchanpur and Thakur Ram Campus, Birganj.

Kriti Chand Thakur, the next expert in the panel is a reputed personality in the field of hydropower development. 65-year-old Thakur from Darchula has received B.E. in Civil Engineering from Annamalai University, Madras in India and M.Sc. in Hydraulics from University of London. He has experiences of working as a chief of advisory board in leading several private power projects. A former Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Thakur has garnered experience of leading NEA team in the country’s first reservoir-schemed Kulekhani Hydroelectric Project.

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The 750 MW project has to resettle people from 34 wards of 15 VDCs in Doti, Dadeldhura, Bajhang and Baitadi.  As per the data collected by the project nine years back, a total of 1579 households from reservoir area needed resettlement. However, this data is being updated.

The project is making a study for probable resettlement land in the hill districts, but the location, quantity and types of land are not identified yet. In the past, resettlement site was proposed in Kailali, Kanchanpur and Bardiya districts in Terai.

The preliminary study on hill land identification was perused following suggestions from local people, political leaders and social organisations.

Furthermore, the WSHP has deployed staffs including Communications and Consultation Officers in the project area for holding discussions with the community people, relevant agencies and other project stakeholders and collecting information in this regard.