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Kathmandu Thursday October 05, 2000 Aswin 19, 2057.
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India to assist in
embankment construction
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 4 - India has agreed to
construct an embankment along the Rapti river inside Nepal to protect villages from being
flooded by the controversial Laxmanpur barrage.
At the conclusion here of the joint
Nepal-India Secretary Level meeting on water resources late Tuesday, the two sides agreed
to construct an embankment in Nepal with Indian assistance as agreed upon during Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's India visit in August, according to a Ministry of Water
Resources press release received here today.
During the three-day meet, the Indian side
also agreed to send a team of experts "in near future" to carry out studies for
the development of an "appropriate" hydro electricity project in Nepal.
Some 22,000 people - 15,000 Nepalis from 5
VDCs' (Village Development Committees') 33 villages, and 7,000 people from India's nine
Gram Panchayats - will be affected should Rapti and its smaller tributaries flood,
according to officials.
The problem cropped up after India
constructed a 13.5 kilometre-long afflux bund, which has a width of 25 meter at its base,
to channel (Nepal's) smaller sources of water into the Rapti river early this year.
The right afflux bund stretches all the way
down to the Indian barrage - for Gorakhapur irrigation project - at Laxmanpur which lies a
few kilometres downstream from Nepal-India border in Banke district.
"The Indian side also agreed to
construct an embankment along Bagmati river in Nepal besides agreeing to speed up the
construction of the Lalbakaiya embankment," the release said. "Subsequently, it
has been agreed that, embankment construction works at Kamala and Khandi river will be
speeded up."
The two sides have also agreed to take
preventive measures after carrying out studies on the erosion problem recently surfaced in
Nepal's Chandani-Dodhara area and on the right side of Gandak barrage. Necessary steps
will also be taken to prevent the possibility of Nepal's Bandganga river merging into
Sotawa Nala.
The joint committee has also decided to
direct a joint committee of experts to come up with the Detail Project Report (DPR) of
Pancheshwor Multi Purpose Project by the end of 2001.
Another joint committee on flood
forecasting will be formed soon which will prepare a flood forecasting masterplan before
the onset of monsoon next year.
"The two sides have also agreed to
speed up works to prepare DPRs of Saptakoshi and Sunkoshi-Kamala Multi Purpose Project,
and carry out the Tanakpur-Mahendranagar road construction works," the release said.
It added, "A separate Koshi-Gandak
joint committee will be formed to carry out works according to the Koshi and Gandak
agreements. Agreements have been reached to authorize the committee to resolve the
problems seen there."
According to the release, India is also
contemplating increasing the power exchange between Nepal and India from 50 MW to 150 MW.
"India has already directed its Power Exchange Committee to set up necessary
transmission lines."
Secretary at Ministry of Water Resources,
Bishwa Nath Sapkota, and Secretary at Indian Ministry of Water Resources, Jafar Hassan,
led the two sides during the meet which started on first October.
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