The Tila Hydropower Project, which will be built on the border of Tila Rural Municipality in Jumla and Tilagufa Municipality in Kalikot, will cost more than Rs. 7 billion to generate 38.07 megawatts of electricity.

Surendradev Bhatta, consultant and environmentalist of the Tila Hydropower Project, informed that the public hearing program on the first phase of the preliminary environmental assessment report of the affected areas of Tilagufa Municipality-1, 2, 3, 4 and 9 of Tila Rural Municipality-1 and 7 of Kalikot district has been completed.

The feasibility study for constructing the Tila Hydropower Project was completed four years ago. According to environmental expert Bhatt, the proposed project to be built on the Tila River, which flows through Tila Rural Municipality and Tilagufa Municipality, has a design discharge of 52.51 cubic meters per second.

The survey of the project was approved by the Department of Electricity Development under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation in 2078 B.S. (2021/2022 A.D.).

Tila Rural Municipality Chairperson Motilal Rokaya said that since the project will create favorable impacts such as employment generation, royalty, shares, community support programs, and income opportunities for locals through business activities, it will benefit the community at the local as well as the national level.

The generated electricity will be transmitted to the Jumla Bazaar substation through a 132 kV single-circuit transmission line. The water discharged from the power house will be released back into the Tila River through a 25-meter-long tailrace tunnel.

All project structures will be located on the left bank of the Tila River. According to Deputy Secretary of the Department of Electricity Development, Gopi Prasad Shah, the estimated total cost of the project is 7.5674 billion rupees (7 billion 56 crore 74 lakh).

The electricity generated from the project will be connected to Jumla Bazaar through a 30.20 km long, 132 kV single-circuit transmission line. A total of 7.585 hectares of land will be required for the construction of the project.

Of this, 4.772 hectares is forest land and 2.813 hectares is private land, according to Deputy Secretary Shah of the department. Local people will be given special priority in employment opportunities.

During the construction period, local residents will be able to engage in direct and indirect business activities. As a result, it is expected to increase the income of the local people, informed Khumbilal Rokaya, Ward Chairperson of Tila Rural Municipality-7.

A total of 34 households are expected to be directly affected by the construction and operation of the project. The details of the directly affected households have been posted at the concerned ward offices of the project-affected area, according to the Tila Hydropower Project.

The Tila Hydropower Project has stated that construction work will commence after the completion of the study period.

Biznessnews