KATHMANDU: Flouting the directives of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, and the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, a switching station supplying electricity to the Industry in Dhading has come into operation.
The switching station constructed in Siddhalek Rural Municipality-6 of Dhading under the Marshyangdi-Suchatar 132 KV transmission line has been brought into operation from Friday.
The power supply will be provided to the cement industry by looping in the transmission line in the switching station. The industry will require 20 MW of electricity.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that the switching station was allowed to charge as the demand for electricity would decrease during the Dashain festival.
“At other times, the Marsyangdi-Suchatar 132 kV trunk line could not be shut down, so we allowed it to be charged during the festival,” said Ghising.
“Now that the cement industry will be able to connect electricity from the 132 KV line any day,” he said.
The industry, which is under construction in Benighat Rorang village municipality of Dhading, had brought a switching station to supply electricity by encroaching upon the road to operate the industry.
A few months ago, a power transmission line tower was constructed from the construction site of the switching station to the structure of the industry.
The company’s representatives had pledged to relocate the tower after locals protested it. However, the company has brought the tower into operation.
Instead of relocating the tower, the industry has taken advantage of the festive season by bringing the switching station constructed in Siddhalek rural municipality-6 of Dhading under the Marsyangdi-Suchatar 132 KV transmission line last Friday.
The power supply will be provided to the cement industry by looping the transmission line in the switching station.
The PAC had earlier instructed the company to follow the rules prescribed by the EIA.
A sub-committee of the PAC had made a field study of the cement industry in Dhading two years ago and concluded that the company had flouted the rules prescribed in the EIA report.
The cement industry, which had been in dispute even before the actual start of the construction work, has annoyed the locals.
According to the locals, some parts of Benighat Rorang and Gajuri rural municipalities, and the Manahari rural municipality of Makwanpur have been badly affected by the industry.
The cement industry had earlier started construction of a switching station at its own expense.
Locals had also complained that the modality of distributing royalty in affected areas was flawed.
Likewise, the PAC’s sub-committee had stated that the haphazard construction of access roads had affected the irrigation canals used by locals there.
The Huaxin Cement Narayani is jointly promoted by Nepali and Chinese investors by making an investment of Rs 15 billion in the cement factory.
The industry is promoted by Nepal’s Vaidya Group and Huaxin Central Asia Investment Company Limited.
While China’s Huaxin has 80 percent of shares in the company, Nepal’s Vaidya Group has 20 percent share.
The company has already constructed the infrastructure ignoring the damage caused by the floods.
Though the locals formed a struggle committee saying that the company had built a wall across the road in Siddhalek village of Dhading, it could not move forward due to the constant pressure of the local police and CDO.
The locals say that they have not been able to raise their voices as the local police have threatened to arrest the protesters.
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