It has been found that a commitment made by the major political parties and stakeholders of Lamjung in the field of hydropower 15 years ago has not been fulfilled.

The commitment made by the political parties and stakeholders to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity in ten years in Lamjung has not been fulfilled.

After peace was established in the country, the then CPN-Maoist, including the major political parties, had made some commitments on April 14, 2009, including generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity in ten years.

The commitment made by the political parties aiming to make the district an investment-friendly environment included producing 1,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years, completely discouraging negative activities such as strike to create an investment environment, and creating an environment where each family can invest up to Rs. 100,000 in the electricity sector.

At present, dozens of hydropower plants have been built in the district due to an investment-friendly environment in the hydropower sector, but the target has not been met producing 1,000 MW of electricity in the district.

Currently, about 300 megawatts of electricity has been generated from 17 hydropower projects in Lamjung. The capacity of electricity generation varies between the rainy season and the winter season. Currently, additional 11 hydropower projects are under construction in Lamjung.

The commitment letter issued 15 years ago was jointly signed by Unified CPN Maoist Secretary Mohan Hari Paudel, Nepali Congress Secretary Arjun Parajuli, CPN UML Secretary Mayanath Adhikari, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Office Secretary Tilak Gautam and the founding chairman of the non-governmental organisation Swabalambi Samaj Sewa Kendra, Sthirbabu Ghimire.

Among the signatories, Nepali Congress Lamjung Secretary Arjun Parajuli and the founding chairman of the Swabalambi Samaj Sewa Kendra, Sthirababu Ghimire, have passed away.

Paudel, the then signatory of the Unified CPN-Maoist, is now a member of the provincial committee secretariat of the CPN (UML).

Mohan Hari Paudel, the signatory of the commitment letter, said that the commitments and objectives made by the political parties at that time are still equally relevant and important.

“At that time, the rivers were in the pocket of one class of people. There was no opportunity for public investment. There were issues of employment and royalty. There was no investment-friendly environment,” Paudel said. “The commitment made between the parties and stakeholders created an investment-friendly environment. The residents of the district were able to invest in hydropower. Those affected people received promoter and public shares. Royalty also increased.”

He said that at that time, GMR was preparing to build the 600-megawatt Upper Marsyangdi-1 Hydropower Project, so a target of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity was set.

He said that the project was not built due to lack of investment and other reasons, so the target was not reached as per the commitment.

Although the mechanism of political party worked at that time, now that a three-tier government has been formed, the people's representatives should pay attention to this issue, said political leaders.

"How much did the district benefit from hydropower? Our past commitments and what has happened today works need to be reviewed once again," said Mayanath Adhikari, a member of the signatory CPN-UML Central Disciplinary Commission.

The parties should continue to work to do better in hydropower and increase the ownership of the project affected people, he said.

When the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led government set a goal of producing 10,000 megawatts of electricity in ten years, the parties in Lamjung also pledged to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity in the district in ten years.

The commitment made 15 years ago has not yet been discussed and reviewed.

A preliminary study has shown that Lamjung has water resources with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts of electricity. Some projects are in the early stages of construction and some are in the process of raising investment.

By Nabin Raj Kuinkel