Locals disrupt Kaligandaki transmission line work

Parbat / Dec 11: The under construction Kaligandaki corridor 20 KV capacity transmission line work has been disrupted by local villagers.

The locals of Dhairing VDC located at the northern part of Parbat have created hurdles in construction work protesting that the transmission line cannot be expanded through Phant area of Salyan, which falls under the project’s Dhairing section.

The locals of Dhairing’s Ward no 2, 3 and 4 have blocked the expansion of the transmission line through a field which they say is arable land. The villagers have demanded with the project management to seek an alternative location for expanding the transmission line as the Phant area has arable land property.

The construction work has been obstructed for the past two weeks as part of the decision not to allow the arable land to be used, Struggle Committee Coordinator, Tunganath Acharya said. He added that the locals were forced to resort to agitation as expansion of the line from the land considered the pocket area for cultivating vegetables would have long-term impact.

The project plans to build three angle towers in the Phant area. The setting up of the towers will impact 25 meters of territory around each of the tower, so the land will not be available for keeping it as collateral in the bank nor can it be sold or purchased, which is the reason the locals resorted to agitation, local, Hari Prasad Acharya shared.

After a meeting between the project staff and local villagers, 11-member committee had been formed under the coordination of VDC Secretary, Mohadatta Poudel, to resolve the standoff.

Meanwhile, Project Chief, Chandan Kumar Ghosh, said they have taken the demands of the local villagers seriously and planned to resolve it soon. RSS