Gorkha: The government has decided not to reduce any amount to the compensation for the physical infrastructure in the flooded area of ??the Budhigandaki.

The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has confirmed the decision of the cabinet meeting held on January 14 regarding this. "The proposal sent by us has been passed by the cabinet," said Chiranjeevi Chataut, joint secretary at the Ministry of Energy and focal person for the Budhigandaki project.

Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, in a letter to the Ministry of Energy, has directed to implement the decision as per Rule 19 of the Government of Nepal (Performance) Regulations 2064.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance had also agreed not to make any reduction in compensation amount. Replying to a letter sent by the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources on August 10, 2021, it was mentioned that the project of national importance needs to be expedited so that compensation can be given without any deduction under any heading. Proposal No. 30, which was submitted to the Council of Ministers on December 17 last year, including the economic decision, has been approved by the cabinet.

The affected people are agitating demanding that the government not reduce the compensation for the remaining houses, cowsheds and plants, saying that doing so would hit them harder. Earlier, the government reduced compensation on land. Due to this, the compensation of houses, cowsheds and plants has not been determined yet.

The way is open for determining the compensation, said Krishna Karki, chief of the Environment and Compensation Distribution, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Unit of the project. “The decision simply came to our notice then. But the official let ter is yet to arrive.” he said. He said that work on distributing compensation for the land to be acquired for the project was at the final stage

He said data collection of houses, cowsheds, plants, fruits and other human structures in all flood-prone areas in Gorkha and Dhading districts has completed. “I understand that a step has been taken to determine the compensation. Hopefully, the committee will fix the price soon,” he said. Those affected welcomed the government's decision and called for its immediate implementation.

Stating that the government is yet to formulate the project, Hareram Dhakal, coordinator of the Budhigandaki Project National Concern Committee, urged the government to end the construction hurdles.

“If the government is in favour of the project, then the modality and construction process should start as soon as possible,” he said. “But we welcome the decision to not reduce the compensation to the project victims,” he further said.

The 1,200-megawatt Budhigandaki project being built in the Gorkha-Dhading border has not started yet.

The government has also distributed compensation for the affected land in the affected area. The work of distribution of compensation started in 2018. About Rs. 35 billion has been spent to compensate the land owners so far.

Compensation for a total of 47,439 ropanis of personal land has been distributed in those districts. But compensation to the physical infrastructure, houses and plants remaining on the same land is yet to be paid.