Kathmandu. MYAGDI, Dec 8: The under-construction 53.5 MW Upper Myagdi-1 Hydropower Project at Dhawalagiri and Malika rural municipalities of Myagdi district has achieved 30 per cent physical progress.

The construction of dam, tunnel and power house has gained momentum. The project has achieved 30.94 per cent physical and 30.80 per cent financial progress in the last one year.

Currently, tunnel digging is underway from four places in this project. The project is also expediting the construction of powerhouse and dam as per the target of starting power generation by 2083 BS. A total of 5,789.71 meters long tunnel has been constructed so far 2,360 meters.

The construction site of the dam that began on May 22 has achieved 45 per cent physical progress. The excavation work of the powerhouse will be completed in about two weeks and preparations have been made to construct the structures. The civil contractor Luna Builders and Contractor, which had signed the contract on April 19, 2080, was operationalized on May 22, 2081.

A 15-metre high and 40-metre long dam is being constructed at Khamla of Dhawalagiri rural municipality-4 in the district to divert water from the Myagdi River into a tunnel. Near the dam site, three 100-metre-long and 15-metre high ponds are under construction.

The construction company has been selected for the mechanical and electro-mechanical work. The height of the powerhouse from the run-of-the-river project outlay is 196 meters. A total of 692 metres penstock pipe will be installed to divert water from an outlay to the power house.

Energy Engineering and Management Solutions is the consultant and the promoter company of the project, Energy Developers Pvt. Ltd. Study is underway for a 1.5-kilometer transmission line connecting a 132 KV substation at Malika rural municipality-7, Dadikhet with a capacity of 132 KV.

The power house of the project will be constructed at Malika Rural Municipality-7 in Bharwang with an investment of Rs 11.23 billion through loans of six banks, promoter companies and shares of the general public. The project will connect an average of 315.01 GW hours of electricity annually to the central grid.

The project has already constructed a nine-kilometer access road from Bharwang to the dam construction site and has allocated Rs 62 million for its social responsibility programmes.