Kepilasgadhi: People of Kepilasgadhi rural municipality in Khotang have caused the suspension of power production from the three-megawatt Upper Rawakhola Hydroelectricity Project for denial of compensation they are eligible to get for their lands acquired by the project. They have forcibly diverted the water from the project dam back to the river, halting the power production.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the locals have launched a phase-wise protest against the Rawa Energy Development Company Limited, the Halesi Energy Company Limited, and the Lower Mid Rawakhola Hydroelectric Project. These projects are based in the Rawakhola river that lies along the border of Sungdel and Dipsung. The protest was announced earlier by the locals, demanding compensation for their lands.
Maitiraj Rai, the coordinator of the Private and Public Property Conservation Struggle Committee, Kepilasgadhi, expressed that the locals are fighting against this ‘injustice’. He accused the hydropower companies of deceiving the locals by not compensating them for their property. “Today, they shut the operation of the Rawakhola Project,” Rai added, indicating the community’s determination to halt the project until their demands are met.
Rai noted that the decision to disrupt the project works was made after their demands were not addressed by March 16. The hydropower developers reportedly used some 5,200 meters of land for the expansion of transmission lines. Additionally, 38 plots of land were acquired for the pipeline expansions, contributing to the grievances of the local population.