Kepilasgadhi: The Upper Rawakhola Hydropower Project, which had been halted by local residents of Kepilasgadhi rural municipality demanding compensation, has resumed operations following a recent agreement.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the project’s operations were restored after an all-party meeting was convened under the initiative of Kepilasgadhi rural municipality Chairperson Samir Rai. The meeting resulted in an agreement to provide compensation to affected landowners within 35 days.
The stoppage was led by the Private and Public Property Conservation Struggle Committee, which had managed to divert water from the project dam back to the river, effectively halting power production. The committee’s actions were part of a phase-wise protest against the Rawa Energy Development Company Limited, the Halesi Energy Company Limited, and the Lower Mid Rawakhola Hydroelectric Project, all of which are based along the Rawakhola river bordering Sungdel and Dipsung.
Maitiraj Rai, coordinator of the Private and Public Property Conservation Struggle Committee, stated that the protests were in response to what he described as ‘injustice’ by the hydropower companies, who he accused of deceiving locals by failing to provide compensation for their property.
During the expansion of transmission lines, developers used approximately 5,200 meters of land, and 38 plots were acquired for pipeline expansions. To implement the agreement reached at the all-party meeting, a seven-member coordination committee, led by local Ratna Bahadur Rai, was established, as confirmed by Rural Municipality Chair Samir Rai.