Indo-Nepal Committee agrees to form Pancheswor Development Authority

Kathmandu: The three-day Secretary level meeting of the Indo-Nepal Joint Committee on water resources today signed an agreement on the formation of a Pancheswor Development Authority (PDA), paving the way for commissioning of the much-anticipated Pancheswor Multipurpose Project, a key component of the Mahakali Treaty.

The Nepal side was headed by Secretary of the Ministry for Energy Shankar Koirala, while Water Resources Secretary Umesh Narayan Panjiyar headed the Indian side. A total 30 members, including 16 Nepali delegates, took part in the meeting, which began in Pokhara on Friday.

Mr Panjiyar said the PDA had been given the green signal to implement the project, local media reported here .
Mr Koirala said the initial work on the project would begin by the end of January and a ministerial-level meeting between the two countries would be held soon to implement the working schedule and work order.

It has been decided to establish the project's Head Office in Kanchanpur's Mahendranagar. Initially, all work related to the project would be done from Kathmandu, he added.

The Nepalese Secretary said the PDA will have two entities -- One will be the governing and another will be the executive one. Once the project is completed, Nepal would get 3,300 MW electricity, in accordance with the Mahakali Treaty. Some 95,000 hectares of land in Nepal will get irrigation facility.

The two sides have also agreed to construct the regulating dam in Dadeldhura's Rupaligudh. India has agreed to open an outlet in Kalakalawa forests along the Indo-Nepal border and construct 1.2 km-long canal to bring water to Nepal from Tanakpur dam, he added.

Other issues discussed in the meeting were Saptakoshi High Dam, Sunkoshi Diversion, Pancheswor Dam, Naumure Project, Dhalkewar Mujaphephapur 400 KV Transmission Line, Laxmanpur Dam, Kalakalawa Embankment, Tanakpur and Mahakali Canal.

''This is the beginning of implementation of the Mahakali Treaty.

Pancheswor Development Authority will soon start its operation,'' Mr Panjiyar said.

Mr Koirala said, ''This agreement will prove to be a milestone in the field of water resources and energy.'' The meeting decided that the sixth meeting of the Joint Committee on Water resources would be held in India in January 2010.