To better understand the ground reality of Punatsangchu Hydropower projects, the parliamentarians led by the National Assembly Speaker, the Home Minister and Economic Affairs Minister visited the sites on June 15th.
With the visit, it is expected to have some effective discussions in the parliament to improve the working progress. The members of the parliament understood the challenges and the physical realities of the Punatsangchu Hydropower Projects.
The members met with the management of the Punatshangchu Hydropower Projects I and II in the morning and discussed the government and people’s concerns on delaying the project works, particularly Punatsangchu I. The members also recommended both the projects to expedite the works.
Later, the management of the Punatsangchu Hydropower Project I and II presented their current working status to the members and visited the construction sites. Members saw the construction progress and knew the actual issues and the challenges that need to be addressed.
“The visit has enabled our parliament members to see for themselves how the actual work is being carried out. I hope their queries were answered. Therefore, I am sure they will also have a clear picture of what really is and also they might be assured about its completion as well as the progress,” Loknath Sharma, the Minister for Economic Affairs said.
He also says that the timeline of completing the construction works can differ due to geological and other natural reasons. He further added that the construction of Punatsangchu Hydropower Project Authority I is already delayed. It was supposed to be completed by 2016.
“Initially 2016 was the date of completion of Punatsangchu I but these are all an assumption if everything goes well. Since we are dealing with such vastness underground and above the ground with the nature, no one knows unless the work is done. These geological surprises create lots of complexities. Therefore giving a definite timeline is very difficult, especially Punatsangchu I because of the ongoing issues,” Lyonpo added.
However, Punatsangchu II has a different story. According to the Managing Director, the works are progressing successfully.
The total progress in the project so far achieved is about 83 per cent and we anticipate, we will be completing the first unit of Punatsangchu II by October 2021. The progress was later seen at the site by the Hon’ble Member of Parliaments and they expressed their satisfaction about the progress of the works. They realized the magnitude of the work,” said Amresh Kumar, Managing Director, PHPA II.
The government expects to get ready all the units of Punatsangchu II by the end of June 2022. The Punatshangchu II had so far spent Nu 59.85bn out of Nu 72bn.
However, According to the Economic Affair minister, the dateline for the completion of Punatsangchu I cannot be ascertained as it requires some data during and after this monsoon. More than Nu 70bn has been already spent for Punatsangchu I and is expecting to complete the project works within a budget of Nu 93bn.
