Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Floods and landslides caused by continuous rainfall in late September resulted in damages exceeding Rs 13 billion rupees in the energy and irrigation sectors.
A committee formed through a ministerial decision from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation submitted its report to the Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Deepak Khadka on Tuesday. The committee said in its report that disaster incidents caused damages worth more than Rs 13 billion to hydroelectric projects, irrigation infrastructure, embankments and transmission lines.
The committee conducted a comprehensive study of damages to completed and ongoing electricity and transmission line projects from Nepal Electricity Authority, its subsidiary companies, and the private sector, as well as irrigation and river control infrastructure.
The study revealed damages of approximately Rs 6 billion across 27 completed hydroelectric projects and 19 ongoing projects. Shaligram Bhandari, the committee’s member-secretary and the chief development engineer at the ministry, said transmission infrastructure suffered damages worth Rs 16 million. LIkewise, federal irrigation and river control infrastructure suffered damages worth Rs 4.98 billion, while damages to rural electrification projects were estimated at Rs 20.71 million.
Disaster incidents caused damages worth Rs 2.43 billion in Bagmati Province alone.
The committee also provided recommendations to minimize the impacts of future disaster events, including potential relief measures for affected projects. Receiving the report, Minister Khadka said that the ministry would work diligently to implement suggestions made in the report.
The five-member panel led by Joint Secretary Jeev Chandra Mandal comprised of Sunil Poudel, Deputy Director General of the Department of Electricity Development, Dr Santosh Kaini, Deputy Director General of the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation; Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, Deputy Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority; and Bhandari.
