A total of 50 hydropower experts, scientists and technicians of Nepal and 26 foreign delegates representing 16 countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa, Vietnam and Indonesia are participating in the four-day workshop.[break]
Inaugurating the workshop, Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, Umakant Jha, said that a developing country like Nepal should develop micro hydropower projects in the community level.
Stating that it was a predicament to face load shedding in Nepal even if having immense possibility of hydropower, Minister Jha stressed on the need of moving ahead by giving priority to micro hydropower projects for the time being.
On the occasion, Vice-Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Prof. Dr. Surendra Raj Kafle, said that around 40 per cent people are deprived of using electricity in Nepal, as attention was not paid towards it although more than 2,200 micro hydropower projects could be built in Nepal.
Similarly, Secretary of NAST, Prof. Dr. Prakash Chandra Adhikari and Chief of the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), Prof. Dr. Govinda Raj Pokhrel, said that the pace of development would gain momentum if Nepal could bring a concrete policy related to hydropower.
Other participants in the programme expressed the belief that the workshop would be able to bring a policy related to hydropower and a concrete draft of programme for developing countries.
The workshop is jointly organised by NAST, AEPC- Nepal, and Science and Technology Centre of India.
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