Four-day standoff in Sindhupalchok escalates as activists demand 10% project free shares; employees pulled out citing safety concerns

The 45-megawatt Bhotekoshi Hydropower Company, built with American investment and located in Sindhupalchok, has been completely shut down for the past four days after a letter was written in the name of the Gen Z Group demanding shares and exerting pressure.

Since Friday, some locals have been staying inside the company’s power house, insisting that they will not leave until they are immediately given 10 percent shares. Fearing possible insecurity from the locals, the employees shut down production and returned to Kathmandu. The hydropower project is now under the protection of the army.

The Bhotekoshi Company, through correspondence in the name of the Gen Z Group, has requested to hold talks on September 19. In 2014 , a decision was made, with the written agreement of political party leaders, to provide 6 percent shares to the locals. Claiming that this decision was never implemented, a letter has now been sent in the name of the Jen–Ji Group demanding an additional 4 percent, making it a total of 10 percent shares.

In the name of the Gen Z Group, they handed over a letter on Thursday demanding 10 percent of the project’s shares free of cost. The project had stated that the matter could be discussed. However, insisting that the past agreement must be implemented and that shares should be given to all project-affected families, a situation arose where production had to be completely halted.

However, after they pressured the company to immediately decide on providing free shares to the locals, the company, citing insecurity for its staff, recalled all employees back to Kathmandu. ‘After pressure was created, we shut down production and called the staff back to Kathmandu,’ a project source said. The project is now under the protection of the Nepalese Army.

No employees are currently present at the project site. One engineer of the project said, ‘As soon as the pressure came, we opened the dam gates and stopped production.’ The Jen–Ji Group had warned that they would halt electricity production until the shares were guaranteed. Although the correspondence was sent in the name of the Jen–Ji Group, those demanding the shares are politically affiliated activists.

According to the Bhotekoshi Company, Padam Bahadur Shrestha, Bir Bahadur Tamang, Amrit Shrestha, Mewang Sherpa, Tasi Sherpa, Arjun Karki, Ngasangbu Sherpa, and Kalden Sherpa from Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality has issued a warning letter stating that the Gen Z Group will not be held responsible for any damages to Bhotekoshi Company if a decision to provide shares is not made by Saturday at 2 PM.

Although the letter was in the name of the Gen Z Group, it is not known who leads the group. The locals had also come to the project site upon receiving information that they would get shares. According to Chief District Officer Bandhu Prasad Bastola, more than 15 locals had been staying in the power house since Friday, while not a single employee remained on site.

He stated that efforts are underway for talks and that the hydropower project is under the protection of the army. The locals, meanwhile, have been staying there at night for the past two days. On Thursday, they sent a four-point letter to Bhotekoshi Power Company in the name of the Gen Z Group. The letter demanded that 10 percent shares be provided, records of employment given to locals be shown, accounts of money taken by leaders in the name of shares be made public, and that the Gen Z Group come for talks by Saturday at noon.

On Saturday, they wrote another letter stating that no one other than the army should be present during the talks. Citing the Jen–Ji Group, they informed the company that local representatives, the Nepal Police, and the Armed Police Force should not be present at the negotiation site.

On Saturday, the company sent a letter to the District Chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists in Sindhupalchok, requesting coordination. The company had agreed in November /December 2014 to provide 6 percent shares. At that time, a written agreement was made between the company and party leaders at the Everest Hotel in Kathmandu.

The locals have stated that they have taken to protest because the leaders had allegedly taken large sums from Bhotekoshi and tried to prevent the implementation of that decision at the time. The company, however, has said that it is still ready to implement the agreement to provide 6 percent shares to the locals. But, being a private company, legal complications require that proper procedures be followed to implement the decision, according to a source.

Locals claim that the leaders at the time prioritized personal gain from the company over providing shares to the affected community. In this project, which began electricity production in 2000 (2057 B.S.) with private sector investment, 5 percent of the shares still belong to American investors, while the remaining shares are held by Nepalese.

Initially, most of the shares were held by the American companies Panda Energy and Harza Engineering. The electricity purchase agreement for the project was also made in U.S. dollars. This is the country’s first project built entirely with foreign private investment. Technical sources say that due to earthquakes, floods, and landslides, the project has not been able to produce electricity regularly during this period. The project suffered significant damage during the earthquake.

Later, floods caused the project to remain shut for several months, during which it incurred substantial losses. At that time, since the power purchase agreement (PPA) was in U.S. dollars, the company says that the losses would gradually be covered because the profit ratio was comparatively higher. The company is about to complete 25 years of electricity production.

The project, located in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality bordering China, has a dam at Tatopani Dekhilo and a powerhouse at Jhirpu. Initially, it generated 36 megawatts of electricity, and later 9 megawatts. The project is set to be handed over to the government after some time.

The project, which has a dam at Tatopani Dashkilo in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality, which borders China, and a power house at Jhirpu, initially produced 36 megawatts and later 9 megawatts of electricity. The project is being handed over to the government after some time.

Source: Kantipur