The incessant rainfall on Sep 27 and 28 caused widespread floods and landslides across the country, resulting in damages worth over Rs. 13 billion in the energy and irrigation sectors.

A committee formed on October 14 through a ministerial-level decision by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation submitted its report today to Minister Deepak Khadka. The report highlights that the floods and landslides caused damages exceeding Rs. 13 billion to hydropower projects, irrigation systems, embankments, and transmission lines.

The committee investigated damages to electricity and transmission line projects constructed and under construction by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), its subsidiary companies, and private sector entities. It also assessed damages to irrigation and river control infrastructure.

According to Shaligram Bhandari, the committee’s member-secretary and the ministry’s Chief Divisional Engineer, the study found that 27 completed hydropower projects and 19 under-construction projects suffered damages amounting to Rs. 6 billion. Similarly, damages to transmission and distribution lines were estimated at approximately Rs. 160 million.

The report further states that Rs. 4.98 billion in damages occurred in federal irrigation and river control, Rs. 2.43 billion in Bagmati Province, and Rs. 207.1 million in rural electrification. The committee also provided detailed recommendations to mitigate such disasters in the future and suggested potential relief measures for the affected projects.

While receiving the report, Energy Minister Khadka emphasized the ministry’s commitment to implementing the recommendations, which were prepared with considerable effort. He announced the formation of a five-member committee, led by Joint Secretary Jeevch Mandal of the Energy Ministry, to evaluate damages caused by floods, landslides, and inundation to the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, private sector hydropower projects, and other critical electricity, river control, and irrigation sectors. The committee will also propose potential relief measures that the Government of Nepal could provide.

The committee members included Sunil Paudel, Deputy Director General of the Department of Electricity Development; Dr. Santosh Kaini, Deputy Director General of the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation; Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, Deputy Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority; and Shaligram Bhandari as the member-secretary.

Source: Kantipur