DWARIKA N. DHUNGEL
In the third week of January 2007, I attended a party at the Hotel Yak & Yeti given in honour of an Indian delegation that was in Kathmandu to discuss and sign a memorandum of understanding with the government of G.P. Koirala to fund a 250 MW hydropower project, Naumure. This project is once again in the news because it was mentioned in the joint press statement issued at the end of the recent visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to India and the press statement issued by the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) following the third meeting of the Joint Committee of Water Resources.

The Singha Durbar mandarins consider the proposed Naumure project a great achievement and breakthrough in Nepal and India's hydropower relationship. They think that the project will ease the power shortage in the country. During the party at the Yak & Yeti, I had asked the then Water Resources Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki how come this project had emerged out of the blue. He said, “You do not know, the project has been around for a long time; it has not come out of the blue.” I then put the same question to the Indian government officers there, and one of them told me, “Well, Dr. Dhungel, we have not done anything in the hydropower sector since Trishuli and Devighat. You are facing a power shortage, and we want to help by undertaking this Naumure project.” I wanted to find out if India really wanted to help Nepal or if it had any covert intentions, and came up with the following facts which speak for themselves. The Naumure project is being constructed over the West Rapti River at Naumure, which lies on the border between Pyuthan, Kapilvastu and Arghakhanchi, about 500 kilometres west of Kathmandu.

West Rapti is a medium-sized river. A number of irrigation and multipurpose projects have been planned on it. They include the Bhalubang multipurpose project in Dang, Sikta irrigation project in Banke and Jalkundi irrigation project in the Deukhri Valley. The first two are important to Nepal, and it is now implementing the Sikta project on its own. The Bhalubang project could not move ahead due to India's dillydallying as it wanted the Jalkundi project built to bring the waters of the West Rapti across Koilabas to its thirsty areas.

Parts of Uttar Pradesh state in India suffer from flooding of the Rapti every year. Since 1895, controlling the Rapti has engaged the attention of the government of India. A preliminary project report was prepared in 1958, and it was revised in 1973. The revised project envisages constructing a 57-metre-high dam at Jalkundi. It will submerge 71,000 acres of land in Nepal. The estimated cost of this multipurpose project in 1973 was Rs. 80 crores. An Indian team had arrived in the Deukhri Valley to conduct a survey without the consent of the government of Nepal, and it was sent back.

When the government of Nepal tried to secure external funding for the Sikta irrigation project, it got nowhere because of India's objection. As a result, Nepal had to carry out the Sikta project with its own money. Once it is completed, Nepal will be establishing its prior right to use the water from the West Rapti River. India, however, wants to get this water to Koilabas across the border before the Sikta project is finished. And so it has come forward with the Naumure project showing a large heart and professing to help Nepal overcome its power shortage. The fact is that India is interested in reviving the old Jalkundi project in the garb of Naumure.

It is interesting to note that Nepal accepted the proposal to do a joint study of a project which lies entirely within its territory. I am curious to hear from the Singha Durbar mandarins if they could let the people know how they are going to guarantee the water requirement of the Sikta command area. It is mentioned in the press statement of the MoWR that the irrigation needs of western Kapilvastu would be protected, but we should keep a close watch.

It may not be out of context to mention that India proposed this project directly to the country's chief executive during the tenure of the last government. The bureaucrats at the MoWR were astonished to receive instructions from the very top to consider the project. They were also asked to throw a party for the Indian delegation, and that's where I tried to find out why India was gifting the Naumure project to Nepal.

I am asking myself why India has become so generous, and why Naumure is a landmark in the water resources relationship between Nepal and India. I want our experts on water resources to assure me and others that Naumure has no hidden agenda and that it is a present to Nepal without any strings attached. I would also like to ask the members of the Constituent Assembly if they shouldn't try to find out the real reason behind agreeing to the Naumure project. And I would also like to urge them to ensure that the water requirements of Kapilvastu and the command area of the Sikta irrigation project are protected.

Source: The Kathmandu Post, 2 December 2008