Construction work on a 200 kV substation in Paharebesi, Nuwakot, which had stalled following protests by locals, resumed on Friday. Officials of the Nepal Electricity Authority visited the construction site on the banks of the Trishuli River on Thursday to talk with the residents about their grievances. Kulman Ghising, managing director of the state-owned power utility, asked locals not to obstruct work in the name of benefitting the people. He said the electricity authority was committed to addressing their genuine demands.

Locals and project officials had clashed over the location of the wall built around the command centre of the substation. Locals had obstructed work demanding that the wall be shifted. “If the substation is not built within a year, the electricity generated by plants poised to come online, like Rasuwagadhi (111 MW), Sanjen (42 MW) and Upper Sanjen (14 MW), will go to waste as it cannot be delivered to the national grid,” said Ghising. “Moreover, the power utility will have to pay a penalty to cover operational losses if the plants cannot evacuate power due to delays.”

Following a brief argument with locals, Ghising requested the chief district officer of Nuwakot to provide security. The local administration then deployed armed police personnel at the site. The contractor for the substation resumed work with support from the local administration on Friday.

The $16-million substation built with domestic investment and soft loans from the German Development Bank and European Investment Bank is being built to connect hydel plants with a combined installed capacity of 600 MW in the Trishuli river basin. Project officials expect to get the substation up and running by December.