Mugu, June 9: The drilling work has been initiated for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Upper Mugu Karnali Hydropower Project.
According to geologist Surendra Timilsina, site engineer of the proposed project of Elevate Energy Pvt. Ltd., the drilling work has been started for a detailed study of the Upper Mugu Karnali Hydropower Project.
The Upper Mugu Karnali Dam is a much-awaited project with ambitious plans, including generating 306 megawatts of electricity from the Upper Mugu Karnali Hydropower Project, providing employment to the locals according to capacity, and operating large projects for irrigation in the vicinity, said Timilsina, engineer of Elevate Energy Pvt. Ltd.
Drilling is underway at Ganthe in Lums of Chhayanath Rara Municipality-12 with the aim of preparing the DPR within three years. The length of the drilling is 385 metres. He said that 19 metres of drilling work has been completed so far.
The proposed Upper Mugu Karnali Hydroelectric Project, an advanced project for the development of hydropower, waterways, and tourism in Mugu, is located in Lums of Chhayanath Rara Municipality and Mugumkarmarong Village Municipality of Mugu.
The Upper Mugu Karnali Hydropower Project is proposed to have a dam in Mugumkarmarong Rural Municipality. The dam will be constructed as a partial reservoir (picking-ROR) type.
In such type of dam, water is stored for four hours a day in the dam of this hydropower project. The company plans to operate the dam in electricity generation during times of high demand for electricity from the stored water and meet the demand.
Benefits for Mugu, employment for locals
According to Timilsina, they are still engaged in preliminary studies. He said that the project will be a multi-purpose project in the future. He said that it would be important to control and utilize unutilised water in hydropower production and provide irrigation facilities.
Timilsina said, “So far, the water of Upper Mugu Karnali has not been used. Once the project is operational, Mugali will benefit from sufficient irrigation. Once irrigation facilities are provided here, we can become self-reliant in agricultural production.”
According to him, many benefits can be derived from this project. “The reservoir will promote tourism and fisheries. Employment will be provided to locals during construction and after completion. Programmes will be implemented to benefit the community. Resettlement and rehabilitation work will also be carried out,” he said.”
He said that as it is a reservoir-based electricity generation, it will help meet the electricity shortfall during the dry season.
According to Sajan Aidi, Chief of the Nepal Electricity Authority, Mugu, the initiative for the construction of the Upper Mugu Karnali Hydropower Project is positive. He said that how to manage it is more important than the advantages and disadvantages of the project.
Source: Rising Nepal
