Khotang, Dec 8

The local Majhi communities residing in the bordering place in Khotang and Okhaldhunga district-Rabhuwaghat- have demanded their resettlement along the Koshi River and other riverbanks as 635-megawatt hydropower project with reservoir is going to be made here displacing the them.

As many as 80 households at Rabhuwaghat at Rawabeshi Rural Municipality-3 in Khotang district will be displaced by this national pride project. They have pressed for their resettlement in the river bank and jungle areas. Local Lal Bahadur Majhi said that the Majhi community who earn their living fishing should be resettled in the river bank. “We have a culture of immersing the dead bodies in the river upon demise of people in our community.

Rivers are attached with our sentiments for generations. We want the government to consider us resettling us by the river bank,” he urged. Rawabeshi Rural Municipality chair Bidur Khatiwada opined that the Majhi communities here that are at the risk of displacement should be resettled in an appropriate manner. Altogether 162 households in the villages surrounding the hydro power project will be inundated due to the project. In total, 988 families would be badly affected by the hydropower project.

The project is estimated at Rs 1.6 trillion, according to parliamentarian Bishal Bhattarai. The dam would measure 220 metres in height and 630 metres in length. Dudhkoshi Reservoir Hydroelectricity Project chief Basanta Shrestha said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would be the leading co-financing bank.