Mayhem in Darchula: Had asked India not to release dam water: MoFA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Friday said it had asked India on June 17 not to release water from the Dhauliganga Dam, which is said to be the cause of the flood s that wrecked havoc in Darchula district.

Locals in the district have blamed the release of water from the Dhauliganga Hydropower Station located in the upper riparian side of the Mahakali river for the flood that hit Khalanga, the district headquarters. They have demanded the government investigate the matter.

The recent flood destroyed 132 houses, including several government offices, in Darchula, while it rendered hundreds of people homeless.

Speaking at a regular press briefing at the ministry, Foreign Secretary Durga Bhattarai said, “The sensitive issue was duly conveyed to the Indian side. The matter was also immediately pursued at the diplomatic level.”

Soon after Darchula locals and the district administration took up the matter with MoFA, the ministry had requested the Indian side not to release water from the dam as that would affect the Nepali side, Bhattarai said.

Responding to MoFA’s written and verbal request, hydropower officials at the station said that the dam can hold 500,000 cusec of water, while on June 17, the water the dam was holding was 300,000 cusec only, Bhattarai added.

On Friday, Nepali Congress leaders, including Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel and Spokesperson Dilendra Prasad Badu who hails from Darchula, held a meeting with Chairman of the Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi and urged him to ‘seriously’ take up the issue with India.

“Had the Indian side not released water from the dam, such a damage (in Darchula) would not have taken place,” Badu told Regmi. The Dhauliganga project, which has a 70-metre-high dam and a pond spanning 8 square km, has the capacity to generate 280 MW of energy.

According to Badu, India should have informed Nepal in advance if there was a need to release water from the dam.

“Reconstruction work at various sections along the Mahakali river must begin with understanding between Nepal and India at the diplomatic and economic levels.“Nepal and India must come up with a comprehensive programme to minimise damages caused by flood ing in the Mahakali river,” the Congress said in a press statement after the leaders’ meeting with Regmi. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday made it clear that the flood ing in the Mahakali river was not caused by the Dhauliganga dam.

“During the monsoon season, as with all such projects, waters pass through the spillway,” a statement issued by the embassy said. “The Dhauliganga Hydroelectric Power Station is run-of-the-river project based on a small daily reservoir without any change in storage level.”

The statement said that larger inflows passed through the dam due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas on June 16.

“Power generation thereafter came to a complete stop, with both the dam and the power-house plant being submerged and coming under heavy silting.

“The approach roads to the dam have also been washed away. The question of India releasing the dam water simply does not arise.”

The statement concluded that the dam has “no impact” on monsoon-related flood ing in the downstream areas of India and Nepal.

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