सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. The Supreme Court has ruled that infrastructure development structures cannot be built in protected areas, including national parks. The Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal has opposed the decision.
IPPAN has said that if the Supreme Court’s decision is implemented, about 20,000 megawatts of hydropower production will be shut down. The Supreme Court has rejected the amendment to the law to allow development projects to be carried out in protected areas, including the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act.
The full text of the order is yet to come. With the promulgation of the Investment Facilitation Amendment Act, 2081, the private sector was confident that it would prove to be a milestone in Nepal’s economic development, but the Supreme Court’s decision has disappointed hydropower producers.
In a conversation with Ganesh Karki, President of the Independent Energy Producers Association of Nepal, on this issue, he claimed that if the Supreme Court’s decision on protected area projects is followed, the country will be pushed back 20 years in hydropower production.
He said that the law duly enacted by the Parliament, which exercises the sovereign rights of the Nepali people, is being repealed by the summary order of the decision, and the work of hydropower projects that have been promoted for the past 15 years is being pushed towards complexity.
He said that this has created a situation where 267 hydropower projects with a total capacity of 19,736 MW, which have already invested billions of rupees by paying the fees, royalties and revenues due to the state as per the prevailing law, and have also received survey permits and electricity production as per the prevailing law, have to face complications again.
He said that the state should not obstruct development work. He said that the Supreme Court has come with the intention of not allowing the construction of infrastructure development structures in protected areas including national parks.
The court also needs to consider this when deciding on matters related to development. If a person files a lawsuit and stops hydropower within the park, how will development work be done in the future? The state should support development-related work. He said that such court decisions will affect the pace of development work and that the order needs to be reconsidered.
The decision is sinking the investment of 6.5 million Nepalis
The dream of a prosperous Nepal is starting to be realized. The slogan of the government is also a prosperous Nepal and a happy Nepali. Therefore, it is necessary to take the country to the pace of development. Hydropower is the first to advance the pace of development. Along with hydropower, the issue of tourism, agriculture, IT and industries comes up.
But all these are for overall development, hydropower. Now it seems that the Nepal government is also looking to take some progress in the medium of hydropower and other developments. Along with that, the government seems to have moved forward in terms of connectivity, including providing roads to rural areas.
Many roads have also started to be built. When it comes to hydropower, not much development has been done and we are saying that the government should do it. The government was also in a dilemma. When the previous Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the Prime Minister, an agreement was made with India to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years. Then a new step was also taken with Bangladesh.
The current government signed an agreement to sell electricity to Bangladesh. The Nepal government took a historic decision to produce 28,500 megawatts of hydropower by 2035.
Looking at today’s day, it seems that 6.5 million Nepalis have invested in hydropower through one means or another. The private sector has said many times that forests are an obstacle to development in Nepal. Many files were being blocked in the Ministry of Forests. There were many forest and land problems. It used to take two years to get a file approved.
As the private sector moves forward, there are many experiences where forests and national parks have written letters saying that they cannot study after two years of study. We were telling the Nepal government that the investment we were making was wasted or was in a state of sinking.
The government had amended the laws to say that Nepal should move forward by developing. The government had also amended 9 laws to say that we need both internal and external investment in Nepal. We are inviting investors from the world community, ADB, IMF and the World Bank, to Nepal and taking Nepal forward through energy and other infrastructure development.
We have changed some of the complicated laws. Now there is a comfortable environment and it was said that come and invest.
Investment of more than 15 trillion rupees in hydropower sector in trouble
Private sector investment had already moved forward. The project has moved forward with 11,000 MW PPA. We are waiting for a PPA of more than 12,000 MW. We have obtained licenses for 20,000 MW projects.
Trillions of rupees have been invested in hydropower. More than 15 trillion rupees have been invested in the hydropower sector. The new policy brought by the government was not mature. There were problems. Despite the problems, we had said that the hydropower sector would move forward with some reforms. Parliament, judiciary, government and the general Nepali people should sit together and think about how to develop this country.
Law matters are our own. The sector in which more than 6.5 million Nepalis have invested can only make the country prosperous. We must also consume more electricity within the country.
We have already agreed to provide 10,000 megawatts of electricity to India for 10 years. In recent days, the Nepal government has been really affected by the kind of order or decision made by the Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court. We have been a victim of that. A lot of investment has been made.
The National Park and Wildlife Act of 2029 BS was brought in 2065 BS to see if this act would be moved forward with a procedure again. Now, the act has also been repealed and moved forward. Now we are in a state of nothingness.
This creates many problems. In fact, if the Nepalese government keeps making decisions to advance a development, the Nepalese parliament keeps passing a law, and the court keeps canceling it tomorrow, what stage of development will we reach?
An environment should not be created where investment should be made only after a court case is decided
Now, when the private sector of Nepal invests or brings a foreigner to invest in Nepal, what will happen to the laws of Nepal and what will happen tomorrow when a person is dissatisfied and files a case in court and what will be the decision, it is becoming an environment where investment should be made only after waiting. We Nepalis have always imagined that Nepal should be clean, green and healthy.
But at the same time, while building a project or a transmission line, while building a transmission line in five/seven, 10 districts, it is unimaginable to go beyond the forest. That is why the forest is destroyed. Trees have to be cut down. But while cutting down one tree, hydropower projects have to plant 10 trees.
While cutting down one tree and planting 10, the Terai area can only be a forest while generating 28,500 megawatts of electricity.
The Supreme Court’s decision has seriously hurt energy producers
Therefore, it should be reviewed. There was a thought that there would be some amendment in it. But now, the kind of decision that has come from the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has really caused us a great deal of serious harm. If it is really not reconsidered, then what will happen to the huge investments we have made because we have to pay compensation for the investments we have made according to the laws and regulations of the Government of Nepal.
We invested according to the laws and regulations of the Government of Nepal. Out of the 11,000 PPAs, 3,500 MW of electricity has been generated. The remaining projects are under construction. Some of the projects that are being built have already been approved. But for that electricity to flow, a transmission line needs to be built.
If even one transmission line is not built due to forests and national parks, there will be a loss of trillions due to lack of electricity. The Nepali people will also be drowned.
At the same time, the bank will also be in a state of sinking. We have requested the government. We have also told the honorable minister. Indeed, now we are not in a position to go directly to the court and say it and the law is in place, but it would be better if the country’s environment and development also consider the Nepali people and make decisions.
The Supreme Court’s decision will stop the overall development pace. It has been seen that the infrastructure projects under construction will be stalled. Not only hydropower is needed for the development of the country, but from today onwards, the pace of development of the entire Nepal seems to be stopped.
Therefore, the order from the esteemed court should be reconsidered. Otherwise, the development of Nepal’s hydropower production may return to the situation of 10 to 20 years.
The government should review the Supreme Court’s decision
The government seems serious about the Supreme Court’s decision. When the parliamentarians are on one side of the government and the court is on the other, it seems like a conflict between the two sides and the public is wondering whether the court and the government will be drawn into the conflict. Discussions are underway on whether the government should go on vacation.
The full text of the court is yet to come. The private sector is aware that the country’s forests should not be destroyed for the sake of wildlife. But if development activities are not stopped, it may be easier in the future.
Otherwise, if development projects are stopped in the name of conservation, instead of building a road to a village in Rolpa, many people in the village may be deprived of their rights due to not being able to cut that one tree or enter that forest.
The question arises as to what will happen to the invested hydropower projects. Many, including MCC, are building transmission lines. Transmission lines are being built with the help of ADB and the World Bank. Many foreign-invested projects are being built. Now what will be the future of these and whether further Nepalis will invest or not. The government is calling for foreign investment. We are calling on the world community for investment.
If the Nepal government had discussed and written a decision that would allow us to move forward on development issues easily, it would have been easier to move forward. Another thing is that now it should be completely legalized again and moved forward. I also think that for now, it could cause a lot of damage because we are not in a position to move forward.
We should move forward by making a law again. In Nepal, there is a law that allows you to go to court by hearing something while walking on the road and filing a two-page petition. The court’s decision poses a problem in achieving the Nepal government’s goal of selling 10,000 megawatts in 10 years.
If the government employees of the Nepal government also provide the same amount of support, and if we, the Nepali people, are encouraged to invest in the project in the same way, there is some potential in this.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्