LAMJUNG, APR 25 – Construction work at the 25 MW Upper Dordi A, 27 MW Dordi River and 2 MW Chyangdi River projects has resumed after a three-day stoppage with the developers agreeing to address most of the 10 demands put forward by agitating locals within the month.
“Some of our demands have been addressed, while a few are on the verge of being addressed,” said Chin Bahadur Gurung, chairman of the struggle committee formed by the locals. He added that the committee was forced to launch an agitation after the developers turned a deaf ear to their demands.
The 25 MW Upper Dordi A is being developed by Liberty Energy Hydropower and the 27 MW Dordi River project is being developed by Himalayan Developer Partner. The struggle committee had put forward demands like coordinating with the locals while importing construction materials, providing employment to them based on their skills, providing training suitable for hydropower project development to locals, forming a committee to study the impact on houses while blasting a tunnel through the hills and fulfilling past agreements including building a local road, among others.
According to Rajendra Wasti, the developer of Upper Dordi A, there isn’t much issue with the locals. “We are moving as per our plans and are also committed to fulfilling the valid demands put forward by them,” Wasti said. He added that the project would fulfill most of their demands in course of time. According to Gurung, the 27 MW project has agreed to hold a public hearing. However, Guru Prasad Dhakal, the project developer, said that there is no requirement for a public hearing for projects that have a capacity of less than 50 MW.
“We have already notified the public about the project. And we are committed to fulfilling their demands apart from a few ones,” Dhakal said, adding that they had agreed
to fulfill eight of the demands while two demands put forward by the locals regarding providing 2 MW of free energy to the locals and paying wages higher than the rate in the district needed further discussion.
Source : eKantipur
