Opinion (Spotlight Weekly)

Science, Technology And Water Resources

By Dr. AB Thapa

It was the late 1960s. Head of the Soviet Government Mr. Nikita Krushchev was on an official visit to Indonesia. President Sukarno was the host. In course of Mr. Krushchev’s visit it was agreed that the Soviet Union would assist Indonesia to implement several large projects and among them was a hydropower project. Thereafter, technical teams visited Indonesia. It was established that the implementation of the proposed hydropower project would involve the resolution of few important science and technology related problems, despite the fact that the proposed hydropower was not an exceptionally large project. It is a common feature in water resources planning that invariably a great deal of science and technology related research works are required to be performed prior to the commencement of the design works. Those problems were referred to several leading engineering institutions of the former Soviet Union. One of such institutions was the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute where at that time I was enrolled to commence research for my doctorate degree.

Dissertation And Hydropower Planning

I was offered to conduct hydraulic research to satisfy the requirement for my Ph.D.. degree on topics that could at the same time help to resolve the problems similar to that the designers of the proposed Indonesian hydropower were confronting. I accepted the offer. I commenced the research works. My guide was Prof. G.I. Krivchenko.

I spent full three years to complete my research works and submit my thesis. It became necessary to develop virtually a new wave theory based on the famous Saint Venon’s Equations. Those findings had to be tested in a big hydraulic model specially built for this purpose. I had spent almost one year to erect that hydraulic model. Finally my thesis was accepted. In 1966 I was awarded the Ph.D. degree. The Indonesian chapter of my research works became completely irrelevant. Political unrest gripped Indonesia for several years. Relations between those two countries cooled.

Universality of Research Findings

Several years later my guide Prof. Krivchenko had published in Soviet journal the basic principles for the first time dealt with in my Ph.D. dissertation. I was very much astonished that the scientists of the United States were very much impressed by those findings. They gave wide coverage to those findings published in the former Soviet Union technical journal by including them in the Civil Engineering Guidelines, 1989 for designing hydroelectric developments approved by the American Society of Civil Engineers after translating them from .Russian language into English. It need not be told that the engineering planners in most of the countries refer to above mentioned Civil Engineering Guidelines. We have those documents in the WECS library also.

Nepal Confronts Science and Technology Problems

All those involved in the socio-economic studies of Nepal are always saying that water resources is so far the only known biggest resource of our country that could amply support our efforts to speed up the development of our country. Finding appropriate solution to various science and technology related problems are the biggest hurdle in development of our water resources in the best interest of Nepal. At present Nepal is involved in the study of water resources projects that are among the largest in the world, as a result, we are facing enormously big S&T related problems in course of conducting the studies of those projects. Various institutions even distantly related to Nepal’s water resources development must not be content to be innocent bystander in our quest of proper science and technology related solution for our water resources development because proper resolution of water resources related S&T problems is always a big challenge. Instead of our country being benefited from the exploitation of our water resources, even the slightest mistake in solving the S&T related water resources problems could put the lives of so many at great risk. Very few of us might be remembering that the Kulekhani No. 1 Dam, the only large storage dam in Nepal, was about to collapse soon after the completion of its construction due to geological problems. Government was cautioned ( in an article published in the RISING NEPAL) well ahead of the commencement of the dam construction that the geology of the dam site could be very weak. Such unfortunate things happened because scrupulous attention was not paid in conducting the geotechnical studies.

Kosi Challenge

The Kosi development has already emerged as the biggest challenge facing our country. The Kosi River is posing serious threat to life and property of millions in Nepal and India. Luckily this river can also provide a great opportunity for swift development of our country. Even after the partial completion of the Kosi development Nepal might be able within the next 10 to 12 years to supply abundant water to irrigate all the year round about 300,000 ha lands in our Eastern Terai, and also to generate about 5, 000 million KWh electricity at a rate of only about US $ 1/100 per KWh. After the full Kosi development, Nepal and Calcutta seaport would be directly linked by a canal waterway to be used for the transportation. Such waterway would open up new vistas of opportunities for rapid expansion of Nepal’s industry and commerce sector.

In 1997 an agreement was signed between Nepal and India to carry out feasibility studies of the Sun-Kosi project and the Kosi project along with a navigation canal linking Nepal with the seaport. Needless to say that we would be encountering enormous difficulties in planning and implementation of the Kosi Dam Project since it is going to be one of the biggest projects in the whole world. . In resolution of several such problems, the Research & Development works would be virtually indispensable. In several instances the results of the Research & Development would be required even to work out the plan to conduct the detailed study of this mammoth project. Thus there would be a need to spend a fairly long period to complete such research and development works. Realizing such bottlenecks that would have further delayed the completion of the detailed study, I had even signed in my capacity as the Executive Secretary, Water Energy Commission an agreement in 1998 with the Kathmandu University to facilitate the R&D necessary to conduct the detailed study of the Kosi High Dam Project and its navigation canal component

WECS and Kathmandu University

I became the head of the Water and Energy Commission ( WECS) for a very short period towards the end of the 1990s. Within my short tenure I did my best to transform the WECS into a vibrant organization fully dedicated to solve various difficult problems expected to confront our water resources planners in future and particularly the Kosi problems. For this purpose I wanted to involve some of our competent officers who were willing to participate in research works. I was convinced from my own past experience that the award of the Ph.D degree or the M.Sc. degree could be the best incentive to motivate them to be engaged in research works with renewed vigor and determination. The WECS entered into an agreement with the Kathmandu University to initiate the proposed program. We had even identified the specific area of research.

The WECS had abundant fund to support the Kathmandu University and the foreign experts from various foreign universities expected to serve as guides to conduct research works. Until that time a good proportion of the foreign assistance earmarked to strengthen the WECS was virtually misused. It used to be spent mostly to support innumerable foreign travels and tours that had nothing do with the capacity building of the WECS.

Much to our regret, this program virtually collapsed as soon as I retired from my active service in the WECS. It is earnestly hoped that the new administration of the WECS would take step to revive this program by finding some other source of funding.

(Dr. Thapa writes on water resources)