district.

According to Kulraj Chalise, officer at the District Development Committee, 36 micro and 31 pico hydropower projects are in operation in the 24 VDCs.

These projects generate a total of 1,702 KW of power, electrifying 17,339 households in villages such as Simjung, Lapu, Gumda and Kharibot, which are not yet connected to the main grid.  

The government-run Alternative Energy Promotion Centre installed 39 of these power projects, Gorkha Welfare (Kaduri) installed 14, Manaslu Conservation Area Project funded four and remaining 10 were funded privately.

Chalise said that two more installations are underway. “Since most of the villages now have access to electric power, we have not received any new demands for the next year,” said Chalise.

Despite the story of success, however, Chalise lamented the difficulties faced in the upkeep and repair of the installed power plants. For instance, the last monsoon wrecked the facilities installed in the rivers in Lho, Chumchet, Barpak and Samagaun.

“The money we receive from the government in the form of electricity royalty gets spent in repairing the malfunctioning power plants,” said Chalise. “We do not yet have maintenance plans.”

Owing to lack of a maintenance fund, Chalise said that the local themselves raise money for repairs.

This year, the DDC has allocated Rs 3 million for repair works on micro and pico hydro power plants.

“Because of the remote terrain, even a minor malfunction takes months to be resolved,” said Kunsang Tshering of Samagaun,

adding that the Samagaun Samdo River hydro project has been closed for four months because of this.

Chalise said that lack of technologists and a clear

policy on connecting power from micro projects to the main grid have intensified problems.