Tupche locals against hydel plant that 'blocks' irrigation

Locals of Tupche village in Nuwakot have taken to the street as a group within the village has acquired license for a hydropower plant at the source of the Salaku River, which they say will block the irrigation project crucial for farming in the district. Though the government had already earmarked Rs 3.41 billion for the irrigation project after listing it in the red book for the fiscal year 2005/6, the group somehow managed to influence the concerned authorities to start constructing Salakhu hydropower Project-3 from November, said Pramod Acharya, president of Tupchetar Irrigation Project. Acharya added that the district will face food crisis during the dry season if the group is allowed to build the hydropower project at the source of the river, thereby blocking or seriously obstructing the flow of water for irrigation. "Agriculture is the need of the people of Nuwakot - not electricity," Acharya added, adding that a lot of the locals depend on the river source to irrigate their land. According to the local farmers, more than 250 households will directly be affected once the power house will be constructed obstructing the irrigation project. Meanwhile, the local farmers have begun collecting signatures as a part of their protest. "First priority always has to be irrigation, but it seems that some mafias in hydro sector have managed to cancel the registration of irrigation project to construct the new hydropower plant," said Krishna Rijal, a local. According to Rijal, most of the local farmers depend on their farmlands for their livelihood and once the source of irrigation is blocked, the farmers will face food crisis.