India is to help Nepal build embankments along Rapti as a response to the inundation caused in Nepal by an Indian embankment along the border upstream of the Laxmanpur barrage near Nepalgunj. This was agreed upon at a meeting of water resource secretaries of the two countries who met in Kathmandu 1-3 October.
It was also decided to have an Indian team of experts conduct studies for a medium-sized hydro-project that both countries have been talking about for some time now. The water resources secretaries also set the end of 2001 as deadline for the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Pancheshwor Multipurpose Project, which has remained on paper even after ratification of the Mahakali Treaty in 1996.
Also on the agenda was the Sapta Kosi High Dam, wherein both sides agreed to speed up work to prepare DPRs for the dam project and the Kosi-Kamala Multipurpose Project by year-end 2001. The two countries also agreed to form a joint flood forecasting committee that would have a plan before the next monsoon floods. A press release issued at the end of the meeting said India was also contemplating an increase in power exchange between the two countries from the existing 50MW to 150MW.