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Kathmandu,Saturday January 22, 2000 Magh 08th, 2056.
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The
construction of afflux dam in south Laxmanpur barrage across the Rapti
river by India has once again raised doubts about the India’s
“attitude” towards Nepal. True, the dam has been constructed on
the Indian side of the border but prior consultations and agreement
are necessary for any such construction on a river that affects
another country one way or the other. The manner in which India has
been constructing the afflux dam indicates that it will submerge
thousands of hectares of arable land on the Nepali side of the border
affecting thousands of people once the construction is completed.
Besides, it also clearly violates the spirit of unwritten
understanding between Nepal and India not to undertake projects that
adversely affect the other country. The environmentalists who raise
hue and cry whenever proposals for construction of hydropower projects
are made in Nepal or in India are strangely silent over this vital
issue when thousands and thousands of people are affected with many of
them dislocated from their homes, almost always without compensation.
Apart
from this, the Indian side was supposed to act on the recommendation
of the Standing Committee on Inundation between Nepal and India (SCINI)
on the issue at hand. But it has chosen not to give a thought to the
SCINI speaks volumes about the Indian attitude and “mislaid
aspirations” of the country like Nepal. The report comes in the wake
of the committee in question discussing the fallout of the
construction of a barrage across the Rapti river even as concrete
solutions to the problem were being thrashed out. Unfortunately, Nepal
is always too late to realize the Indian move or to take up the issue
with India at the right time. The gravity of the problem for Nepal
could be fathomed from the utterances of even a person like the
General Secretary of the ruling party and MP, Sushil Koirala, from
whom such thoughts and views regarding India are hard to come by. The
people of the area have been pushed to the wall and there seems to be
no way out for them except to abandon their ancestral land. We had,
time and again, warned the government that such a situation could
develop in any part of the Nepal-India border considering the
situation in Rautahat and elsewhere. But our caution always seems to
fall on deaf ears.
According
to Nepali experts, once the 22 kilometres long barrage is completed,
the course of the river will take a reserve turn by about 8.6
kilometre, and result in the inundation of at least nine Village
Development Committees displacing thousands of people from their
ancestral homes. It will also inundate thousands of hectares of
fertile land. In the meantime and even as the Nepali side stands
uninformed about the likely disaster arising out of possible flooding
by the afflux dam, India has already ordered for the resettlement of
52 villages on Indian side of the border. The current undertaking
comes as a bombshell subsequent to the Indian disagreement over
Nepal’s efforts to construct the canal at Sikta. It may be recalled
that India had invoked oft-violated bilateral agreement governing
projects which, in some way or the other, are associated with both the
countries. How could India construct such a huge barrage so near the
border without Nepal’s consent? Has the government taken any stand
to stop India from doing so? The government cannot remain silent and
let its people suffer when India in total disregard to international
norms goes on constructing barrages across those rivers which flow
through Nepal and whose construction has an adverse impact on Nepal
and the Nepali people. Nepal must strongly take up this issue with
India and if this fails, the government must not hesitate to take
recourse to appropriate international forums including the
International Court at the Hague to remedy the situation. The
government must show that it cares for its people.
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