Rasuwa. Rasuwa: The 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project under construction in Rasuwa district has provided ambulances to the project-affected Uttargaya rural municipality.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Water and Energy Development Company Pvt Ltd, Biong Su Min, handed over the keys of the ambulance to rural municipality chair Madhav Prasad Aryal amidst a programme held at the village executive office, Bada No. 5, Khaltebagar on Monday.
The ambulance will be operated by the health post at the rural municipality. Under the community support program of the project, Community Support Program-CSP, the rural municipality has been provided with modern facilities with the objective of providing humanitarian services to the people affected by disasters, accidents and serious diseases, including injured and lactating mothers.
The company has already provided ambulances to another project-affected Amachhodingmo rural municipality. The project is being operated by Haku Health Post at Haku of Amachhodingmo Rural Municipality-1. On the occasion, CEO of the company, Biong Su Min, said that the project has been made available with a focus on expanding access to basic health services to the residents of the affected areas.
Stating that the community support programme was being carried out in the affected areas keeping the same issue at the centre as the affected people would be the first beneficiaries of the benefits to be received from the project, he expressed the belief that the ambulance would be a milestone in providing timely health services to the patients in remote areas.
He urged the rural municipalities and local residents to provide necessary support and coordination to complete the project on time.
Rural municipality chair Aryal said the ambulance would help the people living in remote and remote areas to access modern health services. He stressed on the need of conducting programmes in coordination with the municipalities of the project-affected areas.
Vice-chairmen of rural municipalities, ward chairs, members of the village executive, chiefs of health centres, office-bearers of the Indigenous Peoples’ Council and local residents were present on the occasion. The ambulance has been purchased as per the criteria set by the Government of Nepal in the National Ambulance Guidelines. The government of Nepal has exempted the revenue from the import of ambulances. The cost of the ambulance purchased at a revenue discount is Rs 2.5 million.
The project has so far spent more than Rs 170 million through community support programme in the affected areas. It has been supporting the affected areas through education, health, drinking water, road infrastructure, culture, distribution of ration, livelihood and income generation enhancement under CSP, Corporate Social Responsibility and Indigenous Community Planning program.
Under the leadership of Korean companies, structures including dam and underground power house at Uttargaya rural municipality-1 of Rasuwa are under construction with foreign direct investment. Upper Trishuli-1 is the largest project under construction with foreign direct investment.
The main construction of the project was started in 2078 BS. The construction of all structures including underground power house, main tunnel, dam is going on at a rapid pace from all sides. The overall physical progress of the project is 63 percent. Out of the 9.5 km long tunnel of the project, only 400 meters are left to be dug. Of the 1,000 people currently employed in the project, 40 per cent are from the project-affected Rasuwa district.
Korean company Dusan Ernbiletti is working on engineering, procurement and construction model for the construction of the project. The promoter of the project, Nepal Water and Energy Development Company, has equity in Korean government-owned KOEN, The International Finance Corporation under the World Bank Group, among others.
Financial management has been made to raise 70 percent of the loan and 30 percent from equity for the project. Nine international financial institutions have signed an agreement to invest $453.2 million in the project, which is estimated to cost $647.3 million (including interest during the construction period). The rest of the money has been raised from equity.
The project is expected to generate 1.53 billion units of energy annually. Out of the total annual energy generated from the project, 38.75 percent will be produced in winter and 61.25 percent in the rainy season. The energy generated will be connected to the Trishuli-3B Hub substation of Nepal Electricity Authority and integrated into the national transmission system. The power purchase agreement between nea and the company has been concluded.
The project is considered very attractive for the country’s power system as it is close to the Kathmandu load center and 104 MW of electricity is available even in the winter season. The project will generate 104 MW of farm power throughout the year. The project is scheduled to be completed by December 2020.
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