DEVAKI BISTA
Workers at the 465MW Tama Kosi project of Dolakha district (left) are rushing to complete the project in the next two years. However, the World Bank-funded 75km Khimti-Dhalkebar transmission line to feed this power to the grid has been stuck for two years due to protests from villagers who have asked for a $1million compensation for land. A senior World Bank team that went to Sindhuli last month was threatened and manhandled by locals. Several other key transmission lines are also delayed because of local opposition. New hydropower projects are expected to generate 2,000MW in the next three years, but if the transmission lines are not rigged up, some Rs 32 billion worth of electricity would be wasted annually, and power rationing would continue.
The solution is to foster accountability through local elections to village and district councils. But local elections haven’t been held for 16 years, leading to lawlessness and corruption at the local level that has brought development to a standstill and threatened national-level projects like Tama Kosi.
A deal worked out between the main parties last year stated that local elections would be held within a year. That deadline, like many others, has lapsed. The political will for local elections is sadly lacking among Kathmandu’s smug and self-absorbed rulers.