Another, after Arun
LESS than a year after winning the battle to halt the construction of a mammoth hydropower scheme in Nepal, NGO activists say the lessons from the "suspended Arun iii megaproject have yet to be fully learned". After the World Bank (WB) suspended the more thkn us $1 billion-project in August 1995, all attention turned to improving the country's energy efficiency and developing smaller hydropower projects as "cheaper and more locally manageable alternatives".
But activists now seem to be worried about plans for another hydropower project - the us $444-million Kali Gandaki, a scheme in mid-western Nepal - the construction of which is expected to start wit4iin this year and be over by AD 2001.
The Kali Gandaki project would produce 144 mw of power in a country where only 13 per cent of the 21 million people have electricity. Mainly funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan, the project includes a 44-m high reservoir for a run-of-the- river dam along the Kali Gandaki river. "The project is not burdened with many impacts typical of large hydroelectric development projects," said a March 1996 wB summary of the environmental impact assessment for the project.
But activists cited it as an example of the ADB'S "mindset of megaprojects" in energy generation during the w13's annual meeting which concluded in Manila in May. "The lessons from Arun in have not been considered and learned at all," said Gopal Siwakoti of the International Institute For Human Rights, Environment and Development (INHURED), a Nepalese group that led the anti-Arun campaign. Siwakoti says that there is a list of some 20 smaller hydro- electric projects, powered from one to 60 mw, that are viable for Nepal and do not need largescale foreign loans.
The WB has also assured that it will help develop alternative projects after Arun. But NGO activists say the ADB has yet to seriously consider this "economically viable alternative framework" for power generation in Nepal. Some community-based power projects, powered from one to five megawatts, are already operational in some parts of the country, said Siwakoti, and informed that Arun iii was halted as several alternatives were available.
In the 38-page summary of the Kali @andaki's environment report, the ADB @ays the project is needed to boost efficiency, or use renewable energy like ,solar or wind energy for which smaller hydropower schemes are "promising but supplementary". The WB says that 36 mini and micro hydro projects that provide power to remote parts of Nepal, are costly on a per-kilowatt basis, contribute only a small amount to the total capacity and are also time- consuming to build.
Nepal has a huge potential for hydroelectric power with only 0.3 per cent of it tapped so far. Power needs are projected to reach 433 mw by AD 2000. Current energy production of Nepal stands at 222 mw, resulting in power outages in the capital Kathmandu.
The WB says, the project will reduce adverse impacts' by adopting measures like relocating 12 households and compensating residents for loss of land and income, and providing for a fish hatchery and fish entrainment measures. The WB's environment report adds that thedam height makes sure that holy sites along the river are not inundated - the Kali Gandaki being one of the country's sacred rivers.
INHURED also says that as the cost estimates climb with more foreign funding, planning and construction would likely be led by foreign firms and consultants, with little local involvement. The group wanted more details on financing plans and electricity costs, emphasising that Nepal's power rates are twice that of India's. The worry is that power from Kali Gandaki would be fed to urban areas, depriving the rural folk.
The group also seeks greater public participation in power projects, saying that people should not only be informed, but have the right to influence implementation. Siwakoti suggests that the Nepal government and donor institutions should use the next few years to draw up short-term and long- term policies for energy planning, including smaller projects, instead of rushing into the Kali Gandaki project.
Since the WB froze the Arun iii project due to environmental concerns, the Nepal Electricity Authority has been looking into smaller power projects, urging private sector participation and improving efficiency of electricity supply. The ADB, on the other hand, assures that Kali Gandaki is "acceptable from the view of timing, cost, risk and environmental perspectives".
The dam's :dverse impacts' on forests and fisheries downstream the power station will be mitigated, it added. "In balance, the project provides a reasonable level of environmental protection and mitigation, serves the regional desire for development and meets Nepal's need for electric power," the WB report concluded.
Siwakoti and Arjun Kumar Karki of the NGo, Federation of Nepal, said, "We hope the government and donors take the Kali Gandaki as a great challenge and a unique opportunity to re-establish their credibility and integrity after Arun III disaster."
Activists opine that the era of megaprojects is far from over despite the WB'S freezing of Arun and its 1994 pull-out from the huge Sardar Sardovar dam project on India's Narmada river. They need not look far for proof. the governments of Nepal and India have agreed to build a 315-m high dam to harness the Mahakali river, on Nepal's western border with India. The project, said to cost us $4 billion, is expected to churn out 6,450 mw of power, to be finished within eight years. A publilb interest litigation has been filed by NGOS seeking more information on this megaproject.