Present government to lay foundation of Upper Karnali project with my blood.

Dr Ram Sharan Mahat
Finance Minister, GoN

Ram Sharan jee

You are going to have my blood on your hands.

Karobar Daily has reported on Monday, 10th March that “Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat has also stated that it (PDA) will be signed within a month” for Upper Karnali project with GMR Energy Ltd. In the meantime I have formally announced in an interaction program on Friday, 28th March “that Upper Karnali project in present form, in Indian national interest, will only be built over my dead body” and “I did commit to sacrifice my life at project site if they commence to build this project in detriment Nepal's national interest.” Therefore, there will be my blood on your hands too if this project is built against Nepal’s national interest.

The site for this project is world’s most attractive site and the only other comparable site is, reportedly, in Columbia. Himalayan Power Consultants, with funding from the World Bank, have, after conducting a study for NEA, recommended that the site should be developed as a reservoir project with installed capacity of 4,180 MW which will enable Nepal to benefit from multidimensional uses of water inter alia ranging from water drinking and sanitation, lean season augmented flow of water for irrigation to increase cropping intensity by more than 3 times compared to present practice of less than 1.5 times, to navigation besides generating peak energy – most valuable form of energy.

Under present format, GMR is going to develop it as a run-of-the river project with 900 MW as installed capacity, that too for export when Nepal is languishing for lack of power not just for lighting and entertainment but power for industrialization and to displace fossil fuel consumption by transportation (which is causing huge balance of trade/payment deficit) by electrifying transportation. You might point out that GMR will give Nepal 12% free energy, equivalent to 108 MW. You may not be aware that it will generate only 36 MW in the dry season (will be equivalent to a drop in an ocean) – the time when Nepal suffers from severe energy crisis, severity of which will but increase with the increase in population and, hence, demand.

It is for you and your colleagues in present government to decide whether the foundation of this project will be laid with my blood.

Ratna Sansar Shrestha