Conflict over derelict road likely to delay UTKHPL

DOLAKHA, July 19: Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the Chinese company contracted to develop Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited (UTKHPL), has refused to take over the road that leads to the project site saying it has deteriorated at several places.



Sinohydro has refused to take over the Dolakha-Singati section of the 68-km road from district headquarters Charikot to the project site Lamabagar constructed by Nepali contractors at the cost of around Rs 950 million saying reconstruction of the deteriorating road will increase the cost of the contracted works.[break]



According to an UTKHPL official, the contract between UTKHPL and Sinohydro states that the Chinese company should take over the construction of the Dolakha-Lamabagar road from the Nepali contractor before starting civil construction and upgrade it so that construction materials can be easily transported to the project site.



The official said the company is now refusing to take over the road saying the upgrading cannot be carried out within the contract amount.



The company, according the official, has claimed that it had faced similar problems in upgrading the Singati-Lamabagar section that was handed over earlier as the road deteriorated at many places with landslides making things worse.



The company, in a report submitted to the UTKHPL through a consultant, has stated that the recent rain has swept around 60,000 cubic meter of road at around 50 places.



Despite regular meetings in Kathmandu for handover of the road, the Chinese company is refusing to take over.



Chief of the Civil Construction Department of UTKHPL Madhusudan Pratap Malla said that the Nepali contractor would be asked to repair the road at a few places and the main contractor would be paid extra amount from the project’s new budget for repairing other damaged sections.



Civil construction works of the UTKHPL, which was to start by April, has yet to begin, potentially delaying the completion of the project by a year.



The daily peaking run-of-the-river project, which will provide 456 MW electricity for four hours a day even during the dry season, is expected to provide significant relief from power cuts if it comes into operation by 2015 as expected.

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