In a meeting of parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday, many of the committee members suggested that the project, which the agreement describes as export-oriented, be modified to serve multipurpose function. They maintained that the regulated water to be released from the dam of the project should be utilized to irrigate thousands of hectares of land in Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts.
The experts said that the developer should prioritize supply of electricity to the Nepali market as and when needed. A high-level committee headed by Som Nath Poudel, which was formed by the previous Maoist-led government, had also recommended to the government to renegotiate the agreement and to build the project on its own if the contractor failed to build the project within the stipulated time.
Experts Deepak Gyawali, Anand Bahadur Thapa and Ratna Sansar Shrestha argued that Nepal should charge the Indian side for using the regulated water released from the storage dam as per the internationally established practice. “Nepal should not let anyone use the water free of cost as the water released from the dam would displace thousands of people in the area,” Thapa said. It is estimated that at least 13,000 people would be displaced once the project comes into operation.
The lawmakers also expressed serious objections over some clauses in the proposed agreement between the government and the developer. The draft of the agreement has a clause which says that the law of Britain will be applicable if any dispute surfaces regarding the project. “This is an objectionable clause. The law of the land must be applicable,” said Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, a member of the committee actively involved in the investigation. The PAC has sought clarification from the Ministry of Energy for signing the agreement.
Meanwhile, Minister for Energy Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat assured lawmakers that the government would not reach any agreement with the developer that would be against the national interest. “The draft is under discussion. We have currently sent it to the ministry of law and to the ministry of finance for study. Once it is finalized we will distribute it to the lawmakers,” Mahat said, adding, “We will remove the clauses that are against Nepal´s interest if there are any.” He also said that he would not let the cabinet endorse the agreement without studying it in detail.
The lawmakers and experts also suggested the government to seriously investigate whether the company is competent to develop the project.
Dip Kumar Upadhyaya of the Nepali Congress said the government should study the company´s status as its activities were suspicious. “Though the government has renewed the agreement many times, the company has failed to show the financial closure,” he said. The government extended its term in November 1999, June 2001, May 2002, January 2004, February 2005, March 2006, October 2006 and in January 2009. The term of the agreement will expire on December 31, 2009.
thira@myrepublica.com
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