nepal india relations, pancheshwar dam project on nepal-india border will be completed in 3 months, final form will be given to dpr

Kathmandu: Nepal and India have agreed to hold a meeting of experts to finalize the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed 6,480 MW Pancheshwar power project on the bordering Mahakali river. This information was given in a media report on Saturday. According to the report published in the newspaper Kathmandu Post, it was agreed during the meeting of the Governing Council of Pancheshwar Development Authority held on Thursday and Friday in Pokhara, Nepal.

Extended tenure of experts
“In this meeting, it was decided to extend the term of the team of experts which expired in March,” Madhu Bhetuwal, spokesperson of Nepal’s Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, was quoted as saying. “Both sides also agreed to hold the next meeting of the Group of Experts within 10 days to resolve the differences on the DPR and move forward towards finalizing the DPR,” he added. The Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP) is a bi-national hydroelectric project to be developed on the Mahakali River on the border of Nepal and India.

what is pancheshwar project
The project is to be developed under the Integrated Mahakali Treaty signed between Nepal and India in 1996. In this, underground power stations of 3,240 MW will be constructed on both ends of the Mahakali river in India and Nepal. Apart from generating electricity, the project will provide other contingent benefits including flood protection. Apart from this, irrigation facility will also be provided to 130,000 hectares of land in Nepal and 240,000 hectares of land in India. However, mutually acceptable DPR of Pancheshwar project could not be finalized due to differences on some issues.

more than 500 unresolved issues
Bhetuwal, joint secretary in Nepal’s Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, said, “There were more than 500 unresolved issues in this regard which have now come down to 127.” According to the report, the date for the next meeting of the experts has not been decided yet. The meeting is the first step after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s visit to India last month agreed to complete the DPR within three months.