The construction work of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line section under the Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132kV transmission line project has been completed. The transmission line project has stated that the construction work of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line section, which is under construction with the joint investment of the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority, has been completed. In order to integrate the transmission line into the national transmission system, it is being tested from Thursday from the substation in Kohalpur, Banke to the Surkhet substation built in Subbakuna, Surkhet.
The project has urged citizens in the areas where the transmission project has expanded to be vigilant as electricity has started charging at the Surkhet substation. The project has urged the locals not to climb the transmission line towers, touch them with any objects, go around the towers, let livestock go around the towers, and not touch electrical structures marked with danger signs during the test period, as well as to make children aware of the issue.
An agreement was signed with the construction company on 7 July 2019 to complete the work within two years. The project, which was supposed to be completed by 7 July 2021, has been delayed by four years. The project was completed after four years due to land tenure issues, tree cutting, and local obstacles in the Banke and Bardiya National Parks.
The Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132 kV power transmission project is going to release electricity from the Kohalpur grid to the Surkhet substation, said Ravi Kumar Chaudhary, head of the Kohalpur-Surkhet-Dailekh 132 kV power transmission project.
Chaudhary said that, while pulling the wires using drones, they faced difficulties in every area due to difficult terrain and thick fog. Indian construction company RS Infra Project, a joint investment of the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority, was given the responsibility of pulling the wires for the construction of the towers of the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line. The project has stated that 13,000 trees had to be cut to expand the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line.
The project was delayed due to delays in the process of cutting trees inside the national park and repeated obstacles from locals. A total of 162 towers have been constructed from Kohalpur to Birendranagar for the extension of this power line. One tower in Subbakuna, Surkhet is 50 meters high and all the other towers are about 30 meters high. Even the Supreme Court, saying that the work of expanding the 132 kV transmission line cannot be stopped, ordered the project to proceed by considering the practical aspects of the problem, and the locals in the obstructed area had to be compensated with about Rs 160m.
