Kathmandu. Chairman of Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Ganesh Karki has expressed the belief that the flood and landslide forecasting system would reduce the damage to hydropower projects and reduce the claim of insurance companies.
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and IPPAN have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of early warning system in hydropower projects amid a program organized on the occasion of National Monsoon Day in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Chairman Karki expressed this view at the same programme. “If the information a day before can reduce a lot of damage, then there is a situation where the technology to get the prior information from seven days ago has already arrived,” he said, adding, “It is sure that the damage to the project will be greatly reduced and it will also reduce the claim of insurance.” ’
Chairman Karki expressed the belief that after this agreement, there would be no major physical and human loss due to the impact of floods and landslides in the hydropower project as in the past. “Even a hydropower project located 28 kilometers away could not be saved due to the floods in Kathmandu last year,” he said. Now it will be less. ’
In the presence of Minister for Energy Deepak Khadka, Secretaries at the Ministry Suresh Acharya and Sarita Dawadi, Director General of the Department Kamal Ram Joshi and Chairman of IPPAN Ganesh Karki signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides. Similarly, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka said the successful implementation of this historic agreement would prove to be a milestone in the energy sector. Khadka also expressed the belief that although some cost of the project has increased during its implementation, it will be negligible in front of the benefits received from the prior notice, so all the projects will take it easily.
Energy Secretary Suresh Acharya said the agreement signed between IPPAN and DHM would have great significance for minimizing the damage caused by the project. Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Sarita Dawadi and National Planning Commission member Dr RP Bichha said the agreement would be historic.
Director General of the Department of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, KamalRam Joshi, said that the MoU signed between the Department of Meteorology under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and IPPAN, an umbrella organization of more than 600 private sector energy generating companies, will play an important role in preventing the damage caused by floods and landslides in hydropower projects. He said the agreement was signed with ippan and the department with the objective of taking safety precautions and reducing human and physical losses by disseminating information about the risk of rain, flood and landslide at the power project site on time by linking the flood and landslide forecasting system installed in the private sector and the flood and landslide forecasting system to be installed in the coming days with the network of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.
What’s in the deal?
One representative each will be appointed from IPPAN and department for the implementation of this MoU for five years. If both parties agree, the time may be extended and if one party does not agree, the agreement can be canceled.
Although the MoU can be amended at any time by giving one month’s prior notice with the mutual consent of both the parties, the consent of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has to be taken while amending the MoU.
According to the agreement, the Department will provide the expected time of flood to IPPAN and its member projects through real time data application programming interface (API) on rainfall and water level based on the river basin from June 15 to September 15. In this, data classified according to the river basin and weather forecast data of the concerned place for 3 days or up to available will be provided to IPPAN by the Department through file transfer portocal (FTF) link.
The Department can store the data provided to IPPAN on its server, process it and sell it, while its member projects will have to provide it free of cost if they ask for any study research.
The data of the early warning system installed by IPPAN and its member projects will have to be transmitted to the department’s server in the format prescribed by the department. The water and weather forecasting equipment to be installed in the coming days will have to be installed following the technical specifications of the department.
Similarly, the API provided by the Department should be kept confidential and the data received should not be accessible to any third party for internal purposes, development promotion and damage reduction purposes.
Similarly, according to the agreement, IPPAN and its member projects will have to prepare a weather report after every rainy season and submit it to the Department and the Ministry of Energy.
