The petroleum exploration work in Dailekh has not progressed due to disputes over compensation distribution.

The government has acquired 45 hectares of land in Bhairabi Rural Municipality-1, in Jaljale of Dailekh, for exploration of petroleum products. The land belongs to 16 households.

But the land owners have not accepted the compensation, leading to a delay in the excavation work.

Locals complained that the compensation amount is less than what they deserve. Five ropanies of land with the house of Dhirj Thapa of Bhairabi Rural Municipality-1 have been acquired. But Thapa said that the compensation to be provided by the government is very little.

“The government has decided to give compensation at the rate of Rs. 175,000 per ropani of land,” he said, “I have demanded up to Rs. 400,000 per ropani. The price of the land was fixed without discussing with us,” Thapa said.

He said that he is upset by the low price set by the government, which is why the locals are reluctant to receive the compensation amount.

Similarly, five ropanies of land with the house of Purna Bahadur Thapa of Jaljale have been acquired.

He said that he has not received the compensation because it is not properly priced in accordance with the customary prices.

The compensation determination committee has also issued a public notice about the distribution of compensation.

Locals have demanded that the value of the acquired land be up to Rs. 500,000 per ropani.

Vice-chairman of Bhairabi Rural Municipality Devi Bhandari said that the problems of the locals will be discussed with the committee.

He informed that the locals are demanding a fair price and that they are taking initiatives with the district administration.

Sher Bahadur Thapa, the coordinator of Compensation Victims Struggle Committee, said that even though they did not receive the customary price, they demanded that the landowners receive a minimum amount of Rs. 300,000 per ropani of land as compensation.

Delay in excavation

There has been a delay in the petroleum exploration work due to the compensation dispute.

Project Chief Dinesh Napit said that the work could not proceed due to lack of timely compensation distribution.

Stating the work is going on in its final stage of exploration and excavation of petroleum products, he said that compensation distribution and roads expansion have become a challenge.

On the one hand, there is a delay in the distribution of compensation; on the other, the narrow road has become an obstacle, he said. There is also a problem of not having a wide road to bring big equipment for the project.

According to Napit, as big equipment has to be brought for exploration, the roads should be widened for that. But no work has started yet.

The provincial government has said that it will take initiatives to solve the problem.

Chief Minister of Karnali Province Rajkumar Sharma said that efforts will be made to remove the obstacles in petroleum exploration work.

He said that the offices under the provincial government have been asked to coordinate.

He said that, since it is a project of national pride, the government will help in the exploration and excavation of petroleum products.

The two-stage study, done sometime ago, had confirmed the presence of petroleum in the area.

Now under the third phase, the study has sought to discover the condition of petroleum stored. After the final phase of exploration by the Chinese technical team, the status of the petroleum mine in Dailekh and the possibility of commercial extraction will be confirmed.

After the final phase of drilling, it will be known how much petroleum is stored in the local area. If the exploration report shows that it is possible to operate a petroleum mine there, the extraction plan will go ahead.

Although the drilling was supposed to complete by February next year, the work hasn’t progressed as expected.

The contract for the last phase of petroleum exploration and extraction, which started in Dailekh on September 2019, is ending in February 2024.

After the government completes all the procedures to be done by the government of Nepal, including land acquisition and road upgrading, the Chinese government’s investigative team will come to Dailekh and start the exploratory drilling work.