Damauli. Tanahun: Sensors have been installed at the construction site of the 140 MW Tanahun Hydropower Project at Jhaputar of Rishing rural municipality-1 in Tanahun district. As an emergency preparedness, the project has installed sensors to measure the water level in the Seti River, continuous monitoring for the safety of temporary dams and to measure the water level to make emergency preparedness effective.

Project chief Shyamji Bhandari said that the main objective of installing the sensor is to reduce the risk of temporary dam collapse due to monsoon floods. As part of the emergency preparedness and response plan, the system will help in real-time monitoring of flood surfaces and make communication with public and other stakeholders more effective, he said.

Bhandari said, “Details of water level information will be displayed on the ‘multi-screen display’ board, which will help in disseminating important information on time and immediately.” He expressed the belief that such technology would help in disaster mitigation as the place where the temporary dam is located is geographically remote and it would be difficult to visit there at night and observe the situation.

Project chief Bhandari said that an agreement has already been reached with the service provider s to send a message on the mobile number to ensure effective communication in case of emergency to warn the people living in the coastal areas below the main dam site if the water level of the Seti River rises above the alert level.

According to him, the project will send SMS to the communities in the low-lying coastal areas at the same time with a message to the mobile phone users to be cautious to give an emergency alert.

Bhandari said, “Mobile numbers of the residents of the area have been collected for this purpose. The system aims to enhance public safety and preparedness capacity by disseminating timely information to low-lying coastal settlements that are potentially vulnerable to emergencies such as floods. ’

The project has already installed sirens at 17 places to inform about the increase in the flow of the river due to floods and the opening of the dam gates. Bhandari shared that the sirens have been installed as part of the river security management plan of the project to give prior information to the communities roaming from Hoksetar on the lower coastal area of the dam construction site.

“Sirens have already been installed to give advance information about the 140-metre-high dam being constructed on the Seti river and the fluctuations in the water level in the lower coastal areas,” he said. ’

After the installation of sirens, the water collected in the dam has to be released at once due to technical reasons, so that there is no loss of human life due to the sudden flood in the river, the general public who are bathing, washing clothes, fishing and swimming in the river will be given prior notice.