Profile
Settings
Refer your friends
Sign out
Senior officers from the Govt. of Nepal and India gathered and thoroughly reviewed their bilateral watershed management cooperation, application of the Mahakali Treaty & collaboration in sectors of inundation and flooding. They then decided to take steps forward with the high dam project of Sapta Kosi through further inspections.
Key Takeaways
- Senior government officials from Nepal and India met to discuss all facets of their bilateral water collaboration, including the Mahakali Treaty’s implementation & cooperation in flood-prone regions.
- They have therefore chosen to proceed with the high dam project of Sapta Kosi through additional research.
- The JCWR meeting, for the eighth time, was held on September 24 in Kathmandu.
- According to a notification from the Indian Embassy, the implementation of the Sapta Kosi-Sun Kosi Project, the Mahakali Treaty, & cooperation in regions of floods, including inundation, were all carefully reviewed during these talks.
The Mahakali Treaty
The Tanakpur Barrage, Sarada Barrage, and Pancheshwar Project are all included in the 1996 Mahakali Treaty, which governs the balanced development of the Mahakali River. The JCIFM and Flood Management and the JCKGP or the Committee (Joint ) on the Kosi and Gandak Project development were also examined, according to the statement.
- The Treaty grants Nepal 1000 cusecs of water from Sarada Barrage during the rainy season & 150 cusecs during the dry season. If indeed the Sarada Barrage becomes inoperable, this amount must be supplied by the Tanakpur Barrage.
- Additionally, the Treaty stipulates that a minimum of 350 cusecs must stream down the barrage to sustain and preserve the river’s environment.
- The Treaty on Tanakpur confirmed Nepal’s authority over the 2.9 hectares of land required to construct the eastern dispartition bund and the 9 hectares of pondage space.
- The Treaty granted Nepal access to 1,000 cusecs of water during the rainy season & 300 cusecs during the summer months, and 70 million kWh of energy, in place of the eastern partition bund.
- According to the agreement, Nepal would receive more water and electricity whenever the Pancheshwar Project is operational, increasing water availability during the dry season at Tanakpur.
- Nepal will bear a part of the expense of producing additional electricity. The Pancheshwar Project was a cooperative venture that was supposed to be situated along the border between Nepal and India.
- The duration of the Agreement was 75 years— the 10-year revision, the arbitration process, etc.
Sapta Kosi high dam project
A multifunctional project called the Sapta Kosi High Dam is being considered for development on Nepal’s Saptakoshi River. The project’s primary goals are to produce hydropower & regulate floods in north Bihar and southeast Nepal. The assessment of the Koshi River was completed in 1946 by a commission under the direction of A. N. Khosla, who also wrote this project report. Khosla served as the primary chairman of India’s energy and water department.
The Saptakoshi high dam project facilitates India’s plans to connect its rivers, and India is eager to move quickly to complete this project.
The citizens of both countries can irrigate a sizable amount of land, regulate water transportation, raise fish, and generate hydroelectricity using the water from the planned dam. These are some advantages of the project to build the Saptakoshi High Dam for Nepal. The Nepali government must persuade the populace to help with the project and offer compensation to those harmed. This procedure could be more advantageous for both nations. But for this endeavour to be as successful, we must work hard.
About the recent Meeting
Friday saw the ninth meeting of the JCWR, which was co-chaired by Sagar Rai, Secretary of the Department of Energy, Irrigation, and Water Resources, and Pankaj Kumar, Department of Water Resources’s Secretary, Development of Rivers, & Ganga Rejuvenation, Indian government. On Sept 21 & 22, the JSTC on Water Supplies held its seventh meeting, which came before this. M. K. Srinivas, the head of the Flood Control Commission of the Ganga in Patna, & Shishir Koirala, deputy secretary of the government of Nepal’s department of water resources, energy, & irrigation, presided over the meeting jointly.
The application of the Sun Kosi-Sapta Kosi Project, the Mahakali Treaty, and collaboration in regions of inundation and floods were all rigorously examined during these meetings, according to the Indian Embassy’s statement.
Talks on taking further steps
According to the notice, it was directed to look forward to the high dam project of Sapta Kosi after conducting additional studies that considered the submergence area of the project, upstream scheduled developments, & many other social, ecological, and technical factors. A gathering of the Unified Expert Group is anticipated soon.
The JCWR enlarged the Team of Experts’s tenure until March 2023 for the finishing of the DPR, recounting the Nepal-India Partnership Shared Vision on Power Generation Collaboration approved during PM Sher Bahadur Deuba’s trip to India in April 2022, in which the two PMs ( Deuba and Modi ) aimed their involved authorities to speed up the bilateral conversations more toward the early completion of the DPR of the project. The side of Nepal commended the Indian side for helping Nepal with irrigation, inundation management, river embankment work, flood control, etc. The side of India emphasised the special bond between the two nations and the significance of effectively managing and utilising resources such as water for both parties gain.
