The proposed 126 MW hydroelectric power project in Bihar has raised the hackles of Nepal and is likely to become the bone of contention between the two neighbouring nations.
Apprehensions have mounted in the Himalayan Kingdom that the project, if through, will inundate hundreds of acres of land in their territory as the barrage, though built at Dagmara in Bihar, will be just eight kilometers away from the Indo-Nepal border.
People residing in Nepal’s Saptari district are the most worried as they fear that the Dagmara project would displace tens of thousands of families along the border. Even local newspapers in Nepal are flooded with reports that the barrage would affect Nepal.
A Nepalese leader and member of the Kosi High Dam Committee Umesh Nath Parajuli has been quoted to have said, “The effect could be more serious if such barrages are built in plain areas”.
Bihar has, however, clarified that the proposed Dagmara project neither posed any threat of land submergence nor would people on either side of the border be relocated.
The Managing Director of the Bihar Hydel Power Corporation (BHPC) has written to the counsellor of the Nepal Embassy Jawed Ashraf that the BHPC had only invited tenders to prepare a detailed project report (DPR).
“The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed its willingness to extend technical support to the project,” Sinha said in his letter.
Denying that the setting up of a power plant would cause any ecological imbalance, the MD said: “The Central Water Commission in 1965, had recommended construction of a barrage at Dagmara. The execution of this hydroelectric project will necessitate construction of a barrage about 11 metres high to store water for power generation.”
Sinha, in a separate letter to the Union Forest and Environment Ministry, has clarified that the setting up of the power project at Dagmara would not involve acquisition of forest land or displacement of population.