NATIONAL 4 - (Spotlight Weekly)

‘If We Want To Sell Electricity, We Have To Do That Fast’

— BISHWONATH SAPKOTA

BISHWONATH SAPKOTA is the Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources. He spoke to KESHAB POUDEL and SANJAYA DHAKAL on various aspects of Nepal's water resources. Excerpts:

Recently there was a meeting between Nepalese and Indian government officials regarding the inundation problem resulting from the Laxmanpur barrage. What decisions were made during the meeting?

Last year, we experienced inundation problem in some parts of Banke district resulting from the Laxmanpur barrage constructed by India in the border region. The joint committee on inundation studied this problem. India has agreed to construct an embankment along the Rapti river to prevent the inundation. Hopefully, this problem will be solved soon.

It has been five years since the Mahakali Treaty was ratified by parliament, but the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has not been prepared yet. We always seem enthusiastic about reaching agreements but fail to implement them. What is the reason for this delay?

Because of a few technical difficulties, the preparation of the DPR has been delayed. There were also some financial problems and it was unclear which party would be responsible for bearing the expenses. But the process is under way. We hope to prepare the DPR within 2001. It is true that there has been a delay in the preparation of DPR, but that does not mean we are indifferent to it.

In the given circumstances, what is Nepal's priority - water or electricity?

Both are our priority. We have not been able to provide irrigation facilities to all irrigable land. Seventy percent of our country's land is in the hilly region where big irrigation projects are less feasible. Even among the remaining 30 percent of the land in Terai region, we have not been able to make optimum use of the available water. When we talk about our water resources, we have to understand that most of our rivers come down from Himalayas and they have great currents. During the monsoon, they cause floods and landslides, so there is an urgent need to control them. That apart, we have to use the water for drinking too. So, there are four aspects to our water resources - drinking water, irrigation, flood control and generation of electricity. One reason why we emphasize the generation of electricity is because we have a vast potential of hydro-electricity which we can sell to neighboring states of India that are suffering from power shortage. But if we want to earn by selling electricity, we have to do that fast. We cannot hold the flow of our rivers. Every second our water is flowing away and we are losing the resource.

In the last 50 years, there has been a lot of investment in the irrigation sector but very little impact has been made. Do you find any lapses in our policies?

The biggest hurdle before us is that of materials and resources. Most of our rivers run dry during the dry season. It is difficult for us to provide irrigation facilities from the quantity of river water available to us during the dry season. So, what we can do is collect the water by constructing dams in different places. Then, we can be able to irrigate the land around the year and in the same stroke manage to control floods. But we need a huge amount of resources for that. So, more than policy lapses, we suffer from a lack of resources. The policies are not the problem. We could have used the water of Bagmati, Gandaki, Kosi, Karnali to irrigate even more land, but this demands huge investments, which we do not have at our disposal at present. Apart from that, we also have to divide the available resources to the hills and Terai. We are not in a position to concentrate all of the resources on irrigation projects in the plains. So, the main problem is not the policy but the resources.

There are also questions about the rights of lower riparian countriesregarding irrigation projects. What do you say?

The issue of lower riparian rights come up from time to time. Our requirement is to make use of the available water resources for our maximum benefit. And I do not think, in so doing, we will be making impacts on the lower riparian country. We have to use our natural resources for our own benefit first. India acknowledges that Nepal has the priority right to use its water resources. Even a visiting Indian water resource minister had agreed that Nepal has the priority right.

The World Commission on Dams recently prepared guidelines. How does your ministry see them?

First of all, there is a controversy in the constitution of the said commission. It is not with the consent of small developing countries like Nepal, which is rich in unexplored water resources, that the commission was formed. Water resources and forests are the only natural resources we have. So, if some commission forms a guideline that will be universally applicable, it will definitely affect countries like Nepal. Another thing is, we are already aware about the principles that the commission has included in its guidelines. We are not only aware of such principles but we have been following them, too. We are sensitive to the principles raised by the commission : that there should be adequate study for alternatives before constructing dams, that there should be minimum impact on environment and proper rehabilitation for displaced people. But we disagree with the manner in which the commission wants to impose its guidelines. The developed countries have already constructed huge dams and they will not be affected by such guidelines. But Nepal is yet to construct a single big dam. Apart from Kulekhani dam and few water diversions, we don't have any dam in the country. But now when we are in a position to extract benefits from our resources, this report has come as an obstruction to our development effort. In case this report is implemented, we will have to face a negative impact in water resource development. We should, therefore, take this report seriously and put our views clearly. In fact, we have already tendered our initial reaction. We are sensitive to the principles raised in the report and we have been following them. Having said that, we refuse to be made a museum for environmental protection at the cost of our development. We are perfectly capable of framing such guidelines for ourselves. No one should try to impose them on us.

The limit of power exchange between Nepal and India was recently increased to 150 MW from 50 MW. How will this help Nepal?

At present, we have a marginal deficit in power. But after the Kali Gandaki A comes into operation next year, we will have surplus electricity. That surplus electricity can be sold to India. But for that we have to first construct connecting lines on our side and India has to do the same on their side. What this agreement has achieved is that we can sell our surplus electricity after the infrastructures on both sides of the border are in place.

The Nepalese parliament has still not ratified the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Indian government. What do you say?

The ratification of the PPA is important in the sense that it will create a favorable environment for the trading of power. The PPA has the legal provisions to facilitate the power trade. It says the respective governments will have to provide facilities as per the existing law to the parties interested in trading power. Although there has not been any discussion regarding this in parliament, I think many believe it is not necessary to include this provision. Personally, I think it is very important that the PPA is ratified by parliament, as it will have the positive impact on the development of water resources. The ratification will mean there is an agreement between the Indian and Nepalese governments whereupon there is the possibility of trading power. There will be a conducive environment where the private sector can hope to invest in hydropower development and export that to India. Since the provision says the facilities should given only if they are in accordance with the existing laws, I see no reason why this will affect us.

What is going on regarding the water resource strategy being prepared by the ministry?

It has been the government's policy to develop water resources for the economic prosperity of the country. In that context, we are preparing an integrated strategy to see how the water resources can be developed for the overall development of the country. We have already received a report to that effect from our consultants. It addresses various aspects of our water resources, including drinking water, flood control, irrigation and hydroelectricity. We are studying the report and preparing the strategy, which will be submitted to the cabinet for approval

There is a new controversy surrounding the Purnagiri dam. The youth organization of the main opposition party CPN-UML threw drilling machines into the river last week, saying the project would undermine Nepal's interest. What do you say?

This is unfortunate. They shouldn't have done what they did. They have only created confusion among the masses. In fact, there is no dam in Purnagiri. The construction has not even started. It is a part of Mahakali Treaty. We have to study where dams should be constructed, what will be their environmental impact, where tunnels need to be constructed and what are the costs involved. At present, we are merely in the stage of studying where we have to conduct various investigations. Drilling machines are used to study the nature of rocks there. According to our investigations, we have identified three places as options for constructing the dam, Purnagiri, Rupaligadh and Sirsiyagadh. So, it is natural that we would be studying these options if we say the Mahakali Treaty should be implemented. Unfortunately, we are facing obstructions at the stage of study itself. We have to justify why Purnagiri is not viable.

What is going on regarding Enron's involvement in the Karnali Chisapani project?

At present, there has been no further development regarding Enron's involvement in the project.

What about the Arun project?

As far as Arun is concerned, the government has said it will not give guarantee to purchase the power generated. This onus will remain on the applicants themselves. Another thing regarding the investment in hydropower is that the government has asked for performance bond from interested parties applying for the licence. This is because, if we do not ask for such bond, that may give rise to the practice of holding licenses. A company called Euro Orient had shown interest to develop Arun, but we have not received performance bond yet. So, we are thinking of exploring other alternatives as well.