The UTKHPL had originally planned to organize the program after the construction of a road to Lamabagar, Dolakha where the 456 MW project is to be built. But the Ministry of Energy (MoE) had hastily brought the program forward, apparently, under pressure from the Prime Minister´s Office (PMO).[break]
The local Maoist leaders opposed the program saying, in the absence of road, the cost of flying in the PM and other high-profile guests would be exponentially higher.
They had vowed at no cost they would allow the program to be held accusing the government of preponing the program to take credit for the project. But Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist cadres blamed the Maoists for opposing the foundation laying program in the hope that a fresh government, hopefully under the Maoists, would be in place by the time the Lamabagar road would be ready.
"The NEA (Nepal Electricity Authority) told us to cancel the program for now," Project Director and Officiating Chief Executive Officer of UTKHPL Mrigendra Bahadur Shrestha said. He didn´t reveal when the program will be held next but sources at the company said it would now be done only after the completion of the road over a month later. "We have been told by the MoE that the prime minister expressed inability to attend the program due to a busy schedule," Officiating Managing Director of NEA Yugal Kishore Sah said.
The Rs 35.29 billion daily peaking run-of-the-river project, scheduled to be completed by 2015, will be the largest hydropower project when it comes into operation, and will provide 456 MW electricity for four hours a day even during dry season.
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