Hydropower projects under construction in Rasuwa have been badly affected by fuel shortages and the April 25 earthquake. As a result, their completion is expected to be delayed by one and a half years, according to project officials.

The construction work of the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project has been at a standstill since the earthquake.

The project has not been able to operate its compressor, dozers, excavators and other equipment due to lack of gasoline, officials said.

“No work except maintenance has been done,” said Kiran Shrestha, chief of the project.

The project had planned to complete the construction work by 2016. “It will take another one and a half years to finish it,” he added.

According to the project, workers are presently engaged in installing power lines, constructing housing and storage wards and batching and crusher plants besides rebuilding the damaged road.

Project officials said problems had been created by shortages of various materials and spare parts.

According to Shrestha, they lack fuel to operate the excavators. “These machines are standing idle as we have no gasoline,” said Shrestha.

The contract for the Rs13.67-billion project has been received by a Chinese company China International Water and Electric Corporation. It has so far finished digging 2.9 km of an 8-km tunnel.

The Chilime Hydropower Project is engaged in constructing four hydropower projects.

This is the second largest project promoted by Chilime. The others are the 102 MW Bhote Koshi, 14.8 MW Upper Sanjen and 42.5 MW Lower Sanjen.