On June 26, the Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel had inaugurated the office of the Kaligandaki-Tinau Diversion Multipurpose Project in Butwal.

In picture Deputy Prime minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel inaugurating the project office. courtesy Mountain Television HD.

Pokhara. 

The Chief Minister of Gandaki Province,Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokhrel has issued a memorandum on Sunday representing several religious institutions and local officials including World Hindu Federation, Rashtriya Brahman Society, Bindabasini sanskritpeeth, among others to block the construction of Kaligandaki-Tinau Diversion project.

CM Pokhrel vocally criticised the federal government for brushing off the provincial government's concern since they have already begun setting up the project office,despite knowing that the multi-purpose project would do more harm than good to the people residing in Syangja,Tanahu,Nawalpur, Chitwan and Palpa districts respectively.

The Kaligandaki river holds religious importance because some of the holy places like Devghat, Triveni and the rest are located at the side of the river. It's known by the other name,'Shaligram' meaning Lord Vishnu in Hinduism,thence the religious organisations seeks to preserve the sacred river.'If the project comes into operation it will hurt people's sentiment along with disrupting the natural ecosystem ',stated by Kaligandaki Conservation Campaign leader Shankar Pandey.

'Without a doubt we won't let anyone to move ahead with the work even if it means to march in the street,as the diversion project would not only weaken the natural flow of the water but eventually can dry up the sources whereas the water of Rapti and Tinau rivers is adequate for irrigation purpose in the farmlands of Rupandehi and Kapilvastu so what's the point of diverting more water from Kaligandaki river into the Tinau river', explained Pokhrel. 

Meanwhile,Minister Kumar Khadka pointed out that,the Chitwan National Park will likely receive the impact with the proposed project undertaking because the biodiversity found in the area like the crocodiles won't survive for long owing to the shrinking of the river.

Even before ,The erstwhile government in Gandaki Province had also protested regarding the implementation of the project.

in picture Aerial view of Tinau and Danab river in which Tinau-Danab corridor is in construction phase,courtesy from Sagar Pandey. 

The 138 billion project aims to generate 133MW electricity as well as to irrigate 54,000 plus 53,000 hectares of land in Kapilvastu and Rupandehi respectively by deviating the water of Kaligandaki river to Tinau river by boring a 38 kilometer long tunnel.

Picture courtesy: Hydro-consult engineering.