 |
Kathmandu Thursday January 31, 2002 Magh 18, 2058.
|
Water resources strategy
For more than a generation now, educated Nepalese have
dreamed of abundant hydropower as a panacea for our poverty. Ever since someone calculated
that Nepal’s hydro-electricity potential is around 83,000 megawatts, that figure has
been bandied about as a magic number that will ring in the millennium. In the decades
since, more sober views have surfaced. The feasible electricity generation potential from
our rivers and streams has been slashed to less than half that figure. Hydro-electricity
is still seen by many as truly the solution to our economic woes. The incumbent prime
minister is among them. Indeed the Pancheshwar agreement that he signed with India was the
centrepiece of his previous stint as prime minister. Yet the fact that the DPR for
Pancheshwar has yet to materialize is symptomatic of just how fraught hydropower mega
projects can be. Problems include population displacement, environmental impact and
difficulty with financing. Financiers get clay feet when they realize that the only
realistic market for Nepal’s potential hydropower is India, and the Indians want to
drive as hard a bargain as they can before they will sign any power purchase deal. That is
one reason why the Arun three project collapsed. International financing can also be a
tricky proposition in itself as is being borne out now by the bankruptcy of Enron
Corporation which at one time showed some interest in Nepal. With this plethora of
problems it is not surprising that we have not made much progress in hydropower
development. We have been able to tap only a paltry 400 megawatts or so of our vast water
resources, ranked second only to that of Brazil.
Wisdom is now dawning that small may indeed be beautiful. A
school of thought steadily gaining ground is that we should forget about our hydropower
fantasies and go in for smaller, local level projects that directly involve local people.
It is the locals who will be the primary beneficiaries, there will be no complaints about
local communities being overlooked when sharing the benefits, almost no displacement of
population will occur, the locals will decide how much environmental impact they can
tolerate, and such projects will also be easier to finance. But forget about unrealistic
daydreams of this country getting rich quick through hydropower royalties. It is against
this background that the government is now coming out with a water resources strategy.
That Water Resources Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhedar disclosed this at a function at the
South Lalitpur Electricity Cooperatives Society may indicate the government too is now
taking smaller scale hydropower schemes more seriously. As the minister remarked,
micro-hydro and electrification at local level are an appropriate method for water
resources development in Nepal. Indeed that may be the only realistic approach if
electricity is to reach the homes of the 85 percent of the population that is still
without it. It was also disclosed at the same function that Nepal Electricity Authority
can extend electricity to only 30,000 households annually while such households are
increasing at the rate of 80,000 a year. Voices of concern have, however, been raised that
the power bureaucracy is trying to bypass constitutional provisions requiring
parliamentary approval for accords that involve bargaining away the country’s natural
resources. Indeed this attempt may be part of a bigger package that also includes an
apparent nod in the direction of micro hydro. With corruption still so widespread, it
should not be forgotten that one of the reasons the political and bureaucratic leadership
has for so long preferred big rather than small hydro-electricity projects is the
prospects of hefty kickbacks. |
