Photo: RSS
Myagdi, August 18
Construction of hydropower projects in Myagdi district has been affected by floods and landslides. Two hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 20 MW have also been forced to shut down. Four hydropower projects under construction in Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality have been affected due to difficulties on the roads, which have disrupted the transportation of construction materials, equipment and fuel.
Construction of the 53.5 MW Upper Myagdi-1, 37 MW Upper Myagdi, 65 MW Myagdi Khola, 14 MW Mudikhola and 6.5 MW Darkhola hydropower projects has been affected. Similarly, road access to the construction site of the 9.14 MW Super Ghalemdi Hydropower Project under construction in Narchyang, Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, has been cut off.
The 6 MW Rele Khola Hydropower Project has been shut down since the last week of Ashad after floodwaters from the Relekharka area of Narchyang accumulated at the dam. Power generation at the 14 MW Gharkhola Hydropower Project in Annapurna Rural Municipality-6 has also come to a halt after a dry landslide buried the powerhouse on August 11. One person died, and another was injured in the landslide.
Jyotikumar KC, project chief of Upper Myagdikhola-1, said vehicles carrying construction materials such as cement and steel rods, as well as equipment, have been unable to reach the project site since Ashad due to landslides at Ghumawne (Phaparkhet), Bangepahiro and Ilpu, and flooding in the Shivaratri Khola.
“We have continued work by using the available equipment and existing construction materials,” he said. “However, we have been unable to work at the expected pace because floods and landslides have disrupted the transportation of construction materials.” Construction of a motorable bridge over the Shivaratri Khola under the Infrastructure Development Office has also been delayed, making it difficult for vehicles to cross the river during the monsoon.
Buddhiraj Adhikari, public relations officer of the Myagdikhola Hydropower Project, said construction work has been affected by rising water levels in the river and landslides along the access road. “We have had to use alternative measures and available materials, which has affected the pace of construction,” he said. “We have been forced to use excavators to help vehicles carrying materials cross the river and clear landslides to allow vehicles to pass.”
The Upper Myagdi Hydropower Project, which has achieved 60 per cent physical progress and is in the process of increasing its capacity from 37 MW to 46.25 MW, has also reported that construction has been affected by floods and landslides. Resham Bhandari, chairman of Darkhola Hydropower, said the company has been unable to transport construction materials due to landslides at Thapachaur, Gauthali and Dachaur Bhir along the Beni-Darbang and Darbang-Dharapani-Takam-Muna roads.
—RSS
