RUINATION FOR THE WEST SETI DAM PROJECT
Dr. A.B. Thapa
Everybody is startled by the recent Asian Development Bank’s horrifying decision to consider the proposal to revive the virtually discarded West Seti storage dam project. Despite the enormous efforts of the private developer, who had managed to gain control of this project exclusively for power generation, very few financial institutions were prepared to take the risk of being involved in this highly controversial project. Environmentalists and conservationists would not have given easy ride to the entrepreneur. They would have raised hell. There was too great a risk to build the world’s highest cfr dam in the very dangerous earthquake zone at the foothills of the Himalayas without the absolute guarantee of safety to be provided by a panel of truly representative world’s leading cfr dam experts.
West Seti project impounds a reservoir about 1,600 million cubic meters in volume. It is a very big storage volume. This storage volume is more than 10 times greater than the storage volume of the reservoir impounded by our country’s Kulekhani high dam, which was already once some years back on the verge of collapse due to oversight of the geological study. It is frightening even to think of the horrors of the West Seti dam failure. The collapse of the West Seti dam would be accompanied with widespread damages extending deep inside the Indian territory.
Submergence of Banke district is quite appalling another factor. The eastern Banke district has started to come in the grip of prolonged widespread submergence in monsoon seasons after the construction of the Laxmanpur barrage and embankments which are the direct extension of the West Seti storage dam project. The submergence problems would get worse once the West Seti storage reservoir comes into operation. Quite a few Nepalese are already saying that the Laxmanpur barrage must be demolished. Their voices raised against the West Seti dam would also become very loud once the project actually comes under construction.
Violation of Interim Constitution
The way the de-facto multipurpose West Seti project is being unceremoniously handled treating it merely as a purely power project despite the call to account for the regulated water reaching India is indeed helping to raise all types of suspicions. Each of the above described drawbacks amount to direct violation of our present Interim Constitution. As a result, the implementation of the West Seti project could easily be suspended for a long period or even for ever by the court on the plea of the affected people.
Essential Precondditions
A complete safety of the West Seti dam must be guaranteed, and the Laxmanpur barrage and embankment related submergence problems should be fully resolved before taking the final decision to implement the West Seti project. Similarly the downstream benefit sharing agreement between Nepal and India must also precede the decision to construct the West Seti project. Irrigation benefit accruing to India from the use of the regulated West Seti water is too large to be ignored. Anybody can find out going through the feasibility reports prepared by SOGREAH and the Himalayan Power Consultants under the assistances of the French government and the World Bank respectively that the total net irrigation benefit accruing to India from the use of regulated West Seti water would be far exceeding the total net power benefit of the West Seti project.
Would Not Lesotho Put Nepal to Shame?
Recently even the Africa’s weakest landlocked country Lesotho was able to recover 56% share in benefit accruing to the South Africa from the use of regulated water flowing into the territory of the latter after power generation in Lesotho. Would not Lesotho put Nepal to shame if our country ignored to recover similar benefit from India?
India Willing to Buy
In India the demand for agricultural water dominates the total demand for water. India has the second largest population in the world. There are plentiful rains over most of the country but they are concentrated in a few months. As a result, India is already experiencing water scarcity. It is claimed that by 2005 the total ground and surface water would have been assigned to users and thus further irrigation would be restricted.
India is showing a great deal of interest in development of Nepal’s storage dam projects that would help to increase virtually by four times the sustainable flow of our major rivers. Recently the information provided in the Indian news media clearly indicates that few years back the Government of India was engaged in developing a policy to obtain the consent of Nepal through revenue sharing agreements in respect of the regulated waters discharged from the storage reservoirs to be built inside our country. A special high level commission constituted by the last Bajpee Government of India had even started to function to conduct studies to this effect. Unfortunately, our government is not as yet seen paying any attention to this highly important development that would have helped our country to gain access to a totally new stream of enormously large benefits accruing free of cost from the large storage dam projects to be implemented inside our country. Mysteriously, our government is now bent on granting license to private developers to implement large storage dam projects completely ignoring their vast water export potential.
Price of Exported Water
Experience of other countries tells us that a formal agreement must be signed between the water exporting and purchasing countries even before the start of the construction of the storage dam project to ensure recovery of water export benefit . Since the last forty years Canada is receiving from the USA according to the treaty signed between them 50% share in net benefit accruing to the latter from the use of the regulated water. Canada is entitled to receive in perpetuity such benefit from the USA for the water exported to the latter after hydropower generation in its own territory.
As said before even the landlocked Lesotho has started very recently to receive 56% share in net benefit accruing to the South Africa from the use of regulated water exported to latter after power generation in its own territory. Lesotho will be receiving such benefit in perpetuity.
ADB Urged
ADB must advise Nepal to hold negotiations to reach an agreement with India to get a fair share of downstream benefit prior to taking the final decision to implement the West Seti storage project. Else our country would be deprived of such downstream benefit for ever. Our government must be cautioned to resolve the dam safety and submergence problems also. Both ADB and our government would have to suffer the humiliation of being held responsible for the betrayal of our people’s trust if they ignored to protect our country’s genuine right to benefit from the regulated water reaching our downstream neighbouring country.
Royal Palace Massacre
Paras Speaks
Eight years about horrifying royal palace massacre, one of the eye witnesses of the incident former crown prince who took Dipendra to Army Hospital, revealed new things. Though he was the person who said to Royal Inquiry Commission then that he and prince Dipendra took Famous Grouse whisky before the incident changed his stand.
No body knows why former prince Paras spoke his mouth this time turning the whole episode from love affairs to arm deals. "Former prince Paras is not saying what truth is. His statement came after his father's recent visit to India," said journalist and Editor of vernacular weekly Janastha Kishor Shrestha. Shrestha covers royal palace issues.
According to nepalnews.com former crown prince Paras Shah has said the erstwhile crown prince Dipendra Shah killed his family members before shooting himself in the 2001 royal massacre due to a failed arms deal.
In an exclusive interview with The New Paper published from Singapore on Sunday, Paras Shah said there were three reasons which evoked the violent idea in Dipendra’s mind, the arms deal being the decisive one.
'The Nepali army was looking for a new weapon to replace the Belgian SLR. Dipendra liked the German Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle, as opposed to the battle-tested Colt M16,' the web version of the newspaper quoted former Prince Paras as saying.
'But his father, His Majesty (King Birendra), did not agree. I know that they argued over it. Dipendra was frustrated. He wasn't happy. He told me,' said Paras.
The German assault rifle had been short-listed by the army, which was in the market for 50,000 new guns.
According to Paras, his cousin's advisers had been working on the deal, which could have brought the crown prince a windfall.
'That, to me, was the real trigger. The deal would have probably been for about 50,000 rifles, which at US $300 apiece, would work out to about US$15 million.'
Responding on why the crown prince was after money when his family’s net worth itself ran into billions, Paras said 'Yes, but I think he was already making plans for the possibility that he would have to leave the country suddenly if things didn't work out for him. I think this was his back-up plan.'
Breaking his long silence on one of the bloodiest massacres in history, former crown prince Paras told The New Paper that Dipendra had not one but three reasons for wanting to kill his own father.
The other two, according to Paras, were his affair with Devyani Rana and his father’s decision to allow multi-party democracy in the country.
‘Dipendra was never the same after his father told him in 1990 about his plans to give up absolute monarchy. He never agreed with that as he wanted to rule the country. I think he started planning his moves then,' said former prince Paras, who grew up with the crown prince as the two were just six months apart in age.
The other reason was his love for Devyani Rana. The royal family did not want crown prince Dipendra to marry her as she was from a rival family.
Former crown prince Paras’s interview comes two months after incumbent Prime Minister and chairman of the Maoists Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced to re-open the files of the royal massacre and investigate on the issue to let the people know the truth.
Many people believe that Paras was involved in the incident on June 1 2001.
According to the website, Paras decided to speak to senior Singapore media men reacting to the Nepali PM's announcement, in an attempt to clear his name from the incident.
Enough is enough, says former crown prince Paras. 'The Nepali people need to know the truth.’ nepalnews.com Mar 30 09
