“The cabinet has decided to provide army for the security of Upper Karnali, and also other projects if they so demand,” Energy Minister Gokarna Bista said after the cabinet meeting. He called it a landmark decision and hoped it would ensure timely construction of hydropower projects.[break]
Bista said the army would be posted at the Upper Karnali project as soon as possible to ensure early resumption of the stalled works. “They will have to first make arrangements for keeping army personnel there. They will be posted there as soon as the arrangements are made,” he added.
Expressing hope that the Indian power developer GMR, which is constructing the 300 MW project, would soon resume the halted work, Bista said, “The government has performed its duty of providing security as per their demand. We now hope that GMR will resume construction soon,” Bista added.
He said the government is also serious about taking action against those involved in the attack on the project as demanded by GMR in its letters to the Prime Minister´s Office, home ministry and energy ministry. “I will meet the GMR officials in the next few days and talk about resumption of the stalled works,” Bista assured. There was no government security for the project site prior to the attack.
Upper Karnali project had been facing stiff opposition from some parties including the Maoists who had been calling the project agreement as not being in the national interest. A group of around 25-30 persons, led by Maoist cadres Binny Shahi and Dirgha Bahadur Shahi according to eyewitnesses, had barged into the Paltada premises in Dailekh on May 22 shouting slogans that Upper Karnali was not in the national interest and set ablaze all three office buildings of the company. Around Rs 11 million worth of property was damaged in the fire.
Though nobody has owned up the incident, Maoist politburo member and Seti-Mahakali state committee in-charge Dharmendra Bastola had hailed the attack on GMR.
“A few days ago, action was taken against Upper Karnali, which was a very good thing. Action against GMR should be taken as an act in the national interest,” Bastola had said at a function in Birendranagar less than a week after the attack.
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