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The weather today will be partly to mostly cloudy across the country.

There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places of Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces.

There is also a possibility of heavy rain at one or two places in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki and possibility of storm in some places of Tarai region of Koshi.

This is due to the partial effect of the low-pressure system in West Bengal and surrounding areas along with the influence of monsoon air across the country, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Tonight, the weather will remain partly to mostly cloudy with a possibility of light to moderate rain at one or two places in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki.

Eight Citizens drew the attention of public and private participants in the Nepal Infrastructure Summit (September 12-13, Kathmandu), focusing on four main areas with regard to the building of large infrastructure projects, including those in our national parks and protected areas.

In the process, the undersigned citizens alerted the various government offices, private sector developers, foreign partners, investment banks, and broader civil society as to the dangerous direction our country is taking in infrastructure development in relation to social justice and ecological good sense.

The four concerns are as follows:

a) The unscrupulous manner in which the government authorities are seeking to allow government and private sector infrastructure encroachment into national parks and protected areas

b) The inability of our state and society to stand up to the accelerated efforts by the Indian Government to gain exclusive access to infrastructure relating to Nepal’s water resources

c) The attempt to silence conservationists, naturalists, environmentalists, economists and activists who advocate sensible development of infrastructure by labelling them as ‘anti-development’ and even ‘anti-national’

d) The trend towards gigantism in infrastructure, with the wastage of large sums on glamorous projects, pushed through without proper planning and allowing opportunities for corruption and destruction of the country’s unique biodiversity

On 7 July 2024, the government pushed through a law within just 21 days, without being tabled in parliamentary committee, permitting the development of infrastructure, including hydropower projects, railway lines, cable cars and highways in protected areas.

There is currently a short-term stay order by the Supreme Court on the implementation of the law, but there are concerns that Nepal’s prized protected areas will be cut and quartered with government agencies unable to resist pressures from the private sector and foreign players. There are sufficient sites for infrastructure projects outside the protected areas of Nepal, and the attempt clearly is to build in areas where compensation will not have to be paid.

“We believe that the Indian Government’s accelerating involvement in Nepal’s water resources is primarily the result of the weakness of successive governments in Kathmandu, led by politicians and senior bureaucrats. The then PM Sher Bahadur Deuba in April 2022 signed a ‘vision document’ on power trade with India envisioning Indian companies’ involvement in the hydropower sector in Nepal, including storage projects,” reads a note.

This agreement was followed up in January 2024, when PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal signed an agreement for export of power to India, one that is automatically renewable till eternity. While Indian companies have been ‘capturing’ licenses to Nepali watercourses, most other countries have been forced to back out from involvement in Nepal’s water resources sector because of strictures set on imports by India. It is clear that the main goal of Indian authorities is to build large storage reservoirs in Nepal's deep river valleys, with India having already designed and budgeted for huge canals within Nepal to feed India’s so-called ‘River Linking Project’. With the lack of adequate pushback from Nepal’s intelligentsia, Nepal’s water resources sector is becoming increasingly akin to Bhutan’s, with New Delhi holding sway.

The discourse on development has been considerably weakened because of the labeling of critics who speak for social justice, equity and the environment targeted with a range of epithets, including ‘anti-development’ to ‘anti-national’. This populist narrative benefits unscrupulous private developers and corrupt officials, leading to a weakened debate on infrastructure building.

Vanity projects of poured concrete are pushed by politicians, bureaucrats and contractors, while those standing up on behalf of the long-term interests of the public are labeled stooges and agents. With the voice of activists weakened, the faulty financing, preparation and oversight of infrastructure in Nepal, from highway upgrades to construction of international airports and hydropower projects, have been leading to poor choices, extreme time and cost overruns, heightened debt burden, as well as loss of the public’s confidence in government as a whole.

Private and public investors often view the implementation of social and environmental obligations, such as environmental impact assessments (EIAs), as unnecessary, costly and externally imposed concepts. However, this approach leads to more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible projects, benefiting both investors and the communities involved.

The Nepal Infrastructure Summit is being organized by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries in a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Investment Board Nepal and the Youth Community of Nepalese Contractors.

The organizers claim that the summit will delve into issues of resource mobilization, policy reforms, best practices and “overcoming obstacles in the sector”. We, the signatories, believe in infrastructure building that supports the public’s interest in sustained growth while being mindful of equity, fairness and environmental sensitivity.

We concerned citizens will continue to use all tools at our disposal – including public information, public interest litigation as well as public protests – to try and prevent wasteful and wrong-headed decisions in infrastructure development. This notice of concern has been prompted by the need for continuous public oversight over collaboration between the government and private sector in infrastructure development, for the sake of social justice amidst the challenges of the climate crisis and uncontrolled market forces.

Then note was signed by Sanjay Adhikari, Megh Ale, Kanak Mani Dixit, Santa Bahadur Pun, Bikas Rauniar, Prakash Mani Sharma, Shristi Singh and Surya Nath Upadhyay.

There has been continued influence of monsoon wind across the country along with the impact of the low-pressure line of the monsoon in and around Madhya Pradesh of India, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.

At present, the weather is partly to fully cloudy in Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces and partly cloudy in the rest of the country. Light to moderate rain along with thunder and lightning is also taking place at some places in Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces, according to the Department.

This afternoon, there will be partly to generally cloudy weather in all the provinces except the Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces. 

This afternoon, one or two of the hilly areas of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces are likely to receive heavy rain along with a storm while one or two places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces could receive very heavy rain.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather will be fully cloudy in some places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces tonight.

There is a possibility of heavy rainfall along with heavy wind at some places in Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim Provinces. There is a chance of heavy and very heavy rain at one or two places in Sudurpaschim and Karnali Provinces along with the storm tonight.

Former Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae has said that the Pancheshwar hydropower project should not be extended under any pretext. Speaking at a discussion program organized by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, the former ambassador said that there should be no delay in Pancheshwar as the effects of climate change are beginning to be seen in hydropower.

He said that if the project can be completed on time, it will be beneficial in all aspects and the more it is delayed, the more losses will be incurred. Saying that both Nepal and India are at loss if Pancheshwar is not made, former ambassador Rae asked to solve the problem. He argued that the cost of the project has increased due to the delay. Rae says that Nepal and India need to look at hydropower strategically rather than as just a resource.

The dream of Pancheshwar being shown to Nepali people for 67 years still remains undecided. It is said that out of more than 500 disagreements in the Detailed Study Report (DPR) of both countries, only a couple of issues have not been agreed upon. Both countries have not been able to present a common opinion, mainly regarding the utility of water. The work of Pancheshwar is not progressing as both countries seem stuck in their own interests rather than in the bilateral interests of water utilization.

The Central Commission of India identified the Pancheshwar project on the Mahakali river in 1956. In 1978, a joint group of experts from both Nepal and India was formed and it was decided to conduct a detailed field investigation independently.

In 1988, the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project Office was established under the Ministry of Water Resources. In the previous year, with the financial support of the International Development Commission, on-site exploration work was conducted in Nepali territory.

In 1991, it prepared a report on the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, which included the Pancheshwar High Dam and Rupaligad Retention Dam. It is proposed that 6,480 megawatts of rock fill dam with a height of 315 meters in Pancheshwar and 240 megawatts in 83 meters height of re-regulating dam in Rupaligad can be produced, generating a total of 6,720 megawatts of electricity. 

Based on that study, Nepal prepared a detailed project report in 1995. According to the latest information from the Ministry of Energy, the total production capacity of Pancheshwar is about five thousand megawatts.

After the conclusion of the treaty between the Government of Nepal and the Government of India regarding the Mahakali River Sharda Barrage, Tanakpur Barrage and Pancheshwar Project on 12 Feb, 1996, the basis for jointly operating this project with bi-national investment was prepared.

On 24 Nov 2009, it was agreed to form the Pancheshwar Development Authority at the 5th secretary-level meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Water Resources Committee. The meeting also prepared the agenda of the Authority (PDA). The agenda was approved by the Government of Nepal and sent to the Government of India.

The first meeting held in Kathmandu in Oct 2014 approved the statute of the authority. The authority’s meeting held in New Delhi in Nov 2014 declared the Indian government-owned company Wapcos Limited to prepare a joint DPR based on the DPR prepared separately by the two countries. In the year 2016/17, there was a disagreement saying that the joint DPR submitted by Wapcos was against the Mahakali Treaty.