Tanahun hydropower project: Delay in the construction of transmission line

Damauli (Tanahun)- The construction of transmission line for the under-construction 140 megawatts hydropower project has been delayed due to policy problems.

The construction under the package-3 of the project has got a delay due to problems with the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Construction of the transmission line started from the Nepali month of Asoj in 2077 BS. Indian KEC International Limited the contract to construct the project. So far, 69 percent work of the project has been completed, said Rajbhai Shilpakar, head of the Tanahun hydropower project.

“Some problems relating to the Ministry of Forest have remained to be resolved. We have written to the Ministry of Forest through the Ministry of Energy for the resolution of the problems,” he said. According to him, laying the foundations for 69 towers has been completed. Similarly, constructing 33 towers has been over, and laying the foundations for 12 towers has been completed. Hoisting electrical cables has reached 0.9883 km. According to him, laying the foundation for the project is ongoing at a place.

“The construction of the transmission line has sped up under package three along with package one and two,” he said. Under package three, the KEC International Limited is constructing the 220 kV 36 km double circuits transmission line spanning from Damauli to Bharatpur of Chitwan. The contract deadline was extended until 19 December, 2024 after there was a delay in the completion of the project due to COVID-19 and inability to acquire permission from the Ministry of Forest to cut down trees within the project site.

The project had aimed to be completed until May, 2022. The total 23 ropanis five aanas of land will be acquired for the project. The land within Byas Municipality-13, Bandipur Rural Municipality-6, Aanbukhaireni Rural Municipality-6, Devghat Rural Municipality-4 and 5 will be acquired. Forty three percent of the construction work has been completed in a period of four years since the beginning of the project.

According to Kiran Kumar Shrestha, managing director of the Tanahun hydropower limited, the promoting company of the Tanahun hydropower project, under package one, 25 percent of the construction of the dams has been completed, under package two, 45 percent of the construction of the power house, and under package three, 69 percent of the physical work.

Under package one, Song Da Corporation, Vietnam and Kalika Construction Pvt. Ltd. Nepal JV are jointly constructing 140 metres high embankments. For the construction of the main dam, work required for diverting the river like the construction of diversion tunnels, the digging of the slope of the upper part of the dam and upgrading the entrance road is underway, said the project chief Rajbhai Shilpakar.

Syno Hydropower, China’s Sinohydro is constructing the tunnel, the power house. Similarly, it is supplying, installing and operating hydro mechanical and electro mechanical equipment. The project aims to be complete within the Nepali month of Asar, 2083 BS. Under package one, the project was contracted with the Song Da Corporation, Vietnam and Kalika Construction Pvt. Ltd. Nepal JV on 22 March, 2021 at the cost of over Rs 21.66 billion. Under this package, for the construction of the main dam, the construction on the diversion tunnel one and two required to diver the river is underway, said the project.

Digging from the inlet and outlet of both the diversions is ongoing, said the project. As part of the digging of the slope of the upper part of the main dam, digging the land from 544 to 480 metres has been completed. The construction of the access road to dig the slope of the upper part on the right part of the banks of the rover has been affected due to rain. For the construction under package two, Sinohydro on 1 October, 2018 reached an agreement at the cost of USD 1.1 billion.

Under this package, constructing the underground power house with 89 metres in length, 22 metres in width and 51 metres in height has been over on 24 June, 2022. In addition, constructing the main access tunnel, cable tunnel and the access tunnel leading to the dam from the right side of the Seti river and the tank has been over, said the project chief Shilpakar.