Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP)The World Bank financed 220kV Power Transmission line project extends from Kirnetar in Dolakha district to Dhalkebar in Dhanusa district. The power transmission line passes through Sindhuli District. 73 KM transmission line has a 15-metre Right of Way (RoW) on either side. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), state owned corporation, has developed the project. The construction of the line began in 2006, and was scheduled to be completed by 2009, but the project has been halted for long time due the dissatisfaction of the affected communities of Sindhuli district.
The project was seriously conflicted with Indigenous (Tamang, Magar and Newar) and local communities (Dalit, Chherti and Bhramhan) in Sinhuli district since the project went without due process of law. The project violated FPIC, consultation, participation, information including benefit sharing. The project violated national and international laws and polices including operational policies of the World Bank. In addition the affected communities had big concerns on safety, health and economic impacts as the transmission cables were set to run over the school building and human settlements
LAHURNIP and Accountability Counsel, a US based Organization, supported the communities in complaint process. The complaint was submitted in July 2013 to the inspection panel of the World Bank. The inspection panel has released investigation report in 2015 that recognized the violation of Bank's operational policies including FPIC. The affected communities also filed the case in Supreme Court. The World Bank and NEA offered facilitated dialogue between affected communities and NEA to resolve the issues but failed to address all communities' issues however communities have been able to secure compensation as demanded.
Media Coverage
Source: https://www.accountabilitycounsel.org/client-case/nepal-high-voltage-transmission-line/#media
- 19 May 2017 Lowenstein Clinic Releases Report on World Bank Inspection Panel By Yale Law School
- 5 March 2017 Nepal: Indigenous Locals Demand that Development Projects Respect Their Rights By Dev Kumar Sunuwar, Minority Voices Newsroom
- 1 March 2017 Power to the People… At What Cost? By Dev Kumar Sunuwar, Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine
- 10 August 2016 Nepal: respect the rights of communities affected by World Bank project By ESCR-Net
- 5 May 2016 In Nepal, Fighting for The Rights of Indigenous Peoples By the Coalition for Human Rights in Development
- 12 April 2016 Khimti-Dhalkebar transmission line construction resumes By the Himalayan Times
- 21 February 2016 Oli, Modi inaugurate power line By Prithvi Man Shrestha, Kathmandu Post
- 19 February 2016 NEA conducts final tests on new Nepal-India transmission line By the Himalayan Times
- 17 July 2015 World Bank overlooked families in Nepal project, panel finds By Sasha Chavkin & Ben Hallman, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
- 15 March 2015 Unsustainable development By Shradha Ghale, The Record
- 11 March 2015 Good intentions gone wrong By Shradha Ghale, The Record
Articles
Source: https://www.accountabilitycounsel.org/client-case/nepal-high-voltage-transmission-line/#media
- 22 January 2018 Disappointing dialogue in Sindhuli provides lessons for community participation in Nepal’s development By Siddharth Akali, Accountability Counsel, & Shankar Limbu, LAHURNIP, in The Record
- 22 May 2017 Landmark community dialogue in Nepal: Is the World Bank learning? By Siddharth Akali, Accountability Counsel, & Shankar Limbu, LAHURNIP, in the Bretton Woods Observer
- 5 April 2016 Powerless: a call for World Bank community engagement in Nepal By Komala Ramachandra, Accountability Counsel, & Shankar Limbu, LAHURNIP, in the Bretton Woods Observer
- 31 March 2014 Disempowered development: Violating rights in Nepal for energy transmission By Komala Ramachandra, Accountability Counsel, & Shankar Limbu, LAHURNIP, in the Bretton Woods Observer