It is heartwarming to read in this morning’s Kuensel that the Kholongchu Hydropower Project is stalled and that the dam site is overrun by undergrowth. From where I stand, any reason - irrespective of what it is - will be a good reason for scrapping the project. In my reading, this project is the MOST DANGEROUS of all the hydro projects that has happened so far.
I have always said that I am NOT against hydropower projects – but that I am against the manner in which they have been done. But in the case of KHEL – I am dead against the project even if it is done correctly:
- even if the entire project work is handled by Bhutanese contractors;
- even if stone aggregates are mined and supplied by Bhutanese mine owners;
- even if cement and rods are supplied by our own factories;
- even if trucks and construction machineries are supplied by Bhutanese owners;
- even if vegetables are supplied by Doksumpas or Sharchokpas;
- even if project dwellings are constructed by Bhutanese house owners.
Close to seven years back – on 19th February, 2015, I called for the closure of the Punasangchu Projects – since then it has been an annual event for me – calling for their closure. They are still standing – but I believe - just barely. The recent talk of doing a barrage in place of a dam at PHPE I is the early signs that the Project is going down. They know damn well that a barrage will not work.
Anyway, let them re-do their mathematics and take a harder look at the geological realities of the location. Thankfully, regardless of the Project authorities adamantly refusing to do the right thing, nature has been quietly showing its hand.
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