A Nepal Army team deployed to repair various sections of the access road has already completed the widening of the road and is currently busy constructing retention walls at both sides of the road. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)—the owner of the project, they army will complete the construction within a couple of weeks. “Currently, the Nepal Army is constructing the retention wall at both sides of the road so that it becomes durable,” said Ambikesh Jha, the site in-charge of the project. “As the topography of the area is very fragile, construction of the retention wall at both sides of the road is necessary.” 

A technical team of the Nepal Army consisting of a few dozen army personnel was assigned to repair the access road and build protection on either side of the plant’s dam after it was damaged by the 2015 earthquake.

Similarly, repair work of the landslide affected areas near the sideways of the dam has also gathered momentum. Earthquake triggered landslides also affected areas close to both sides of the dam, posing a threat to its safety. The army team has almost completed shotcreting the hill that lies on the right-side of the dam. “The army has said they will complete the shotcreting by the end of the week,” said Jha. Shotcreting is the process of spraying concrete throughout the surface of the hills to reinforce it against landslides. However, in order to prevent landslides from the hill on the left side of the dam, the army is installing netting and fencing the area with special types of wires. “We have been informed that the army has already begun the procurement process of the materials required for netting and fencing,” Jha said.  

The 60 MW hydropower project is located in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts in the north of Kathmandu. China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), the contractor for the project, had stopped construction work after the crucial access road connecting the headworks and the powerhouse was damaged by the earthquake.

The contractor has also demanded mitigation of landslides on both sides of the dam, saying that they would pose serious threat to the hydro project. Although the project contractor was supposed to build the access road for the project, differences emerged over who should repair it. 

The dispute was settled after the consultant for the project and an independent team of experts submitted a report stating the damaged access road should be rebuilt by the NEA.

An NEA board meeting then requested the government to mobilise Nepalese Army personnel to repair the road. 

Subsequently in the beginning of January, a Cabinet meeting directed the army to repair the road and mitigate landslides. The army team started work in February.