Kathmandu: Home Minister Sudhan Gurung has visited the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation along with a delegation of hydropower developers from Gorkha-1. He arrived at the ministry seeking facilitation and solutions to problems affecting hydropower projects currently under construction in Gorkha.
Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and officials from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) listened to the concerns raised by the hydropower developers. The developers informed the minister about various challenges, including the expansion of transmission lines and other managerial issues affecting projects that are preparing to begin power generation.
Home Minister Gurung urged Energy Minister Shrestha and the NEA to help resolve the problems encountered during the construction of hydropower projects on rivers in Gorkha District.
He stated that hydropower developers should maintain transparency in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, focus on business rather than politics, and ensure that local communities benefit from hydropower projects.
Assuring that the government would provide the necessary support and that the NEA would work to remove obstacles facing the projects, Minister Gurung also called on developers to concentrate on their work instead of engaging in politics.
During the discussion, Energy Minister Shrestha pledged full support from the ministry to address the issues affecting hydropower projects under construction in Gorkha. He also instructed the Nepal Electricity Authority to take the necessary steps to help resolve the problems.
More than ten hydropower projects, including the Budhigandaki project, are currently under construction in Gorkha. Home Minister Gurung visited the Energy Ministry with the delegation of developers to discuss the challenges encountered during the implementation of these projects.
Acting Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, Dirghayu Shrestha, also informed the meeting that efforts are underway to address the issues affecting hydropower project construction. He said preparatory work is being carried out to secure the resources needed to resolve transmission line-related problems.
Nepalpurbadhar
