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Pancheshwor on a roll
POKHARA, NOV 22 - Nepal and India on Sunday signed an agreement on the formation of a Pancheshwor Development Authority (PDA), paving the way for commissioning of the much-anticipated Pancheshwor Multipurpose Project, a key component of the Mahakali Treaty.
The agreement came during the secretary-level meeting held in Pokhara.
Along with the agreement, the much-talked Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project will be finalised and an investment board set up to look after the financing modalities of the project. The two countries agreed to set up the office of PDA at Mahendranagar. The PDA will later finalise the cost, investment and other benefits of the project, which is purely based on reciprocal basis.
The PDA will have two entities. “One will be the governing and another will be executive one,” said Energy Secretary Shanker Prasad Koirala.
The agreement would be sealed later within January 2010, most likely at the first meeting of the Energy and Water Resources Minister that is slated in New Delhi. The two sides agreed to construct the reregulating dam at Rupaligad, build a canal at Tanakpur and hold a joint secretary-level meeting in Kathmandu in December.
The meeting decided that the first meeting of Water and Energy Ministers would be held in India on January 2010.
“As per the agreement, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the PDA will be selected through open competition,” said Energy Secretary Koirala, who led the Nepali delegation. Only candidates from Nepal and India can vie for the job. The post of deputy CEO will go to a candidate from the country that does not land the CEO’s post.
“This agreement will prove to be a milestone in the field of water resources and energy,” said Koirala. He said both countries would complete procedures for setting up the PDA within January. The agreement states that the PDA will comprise equal number of staffers from the two countries.
“This is the beginning of implementation of the Mahakali Treaty. Pancheshwor Development Authority will soon start its operation,” said Indian Water Resources Secretary Umesh Narayan Panjiyar.
The meeting also agreed to seek a solution to the inundation caused by the Laxmanpur Barrage. “India agreed on unblocking the flow of Sotia and Gandheli streams,” the joint minute reads.
According to Nepal’s proposal, diplomatic channels will be used to import electricity from India on commercial basis after installing cross-border transmission lines.
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