Kaligandaki ‘A’ Hydropower Resuming Operations as Flood Risk Eases

Kathmandu: The Kaligandaki ‘A’ Hydropower Project, which had been shut down for four days due to the risk posed by high water flow, is preparing to resume power generation on Monday.

With the water flow in the Kaligandaki River receding, the 144-megawatt capacity project has announced its plan to restart generation starting Monday morning.

Electricity production at the project site in Beltari, Kaligandaki-5, was halted to avoid risks associated with the high floodwaters. As rainfall decreased on Sunday night and the river level dropped, the project starts preparations to resume generation, while removing silt accumulated inside the tunnel.

According to Project Chief Atmesh Paudel, a technical team has inspected the post-flood situation, making it likely that power generation can commence on Monday morning. Following the flood in Kaligandaki, all sluice gates at the dam in Mirmi were opened to release water into the river.

On Sunday morning, floodwater from the Kaligandaki also washed away a motorable bridge connecting Syangja and Gulmi, located just downstream from the project's dam site.

The flood in the Kaligandaki, triggered by continuous rainfall, has also inundated the Setibeni market area—a confluence point for Syangja, Parbat, and Gulmi districts. Residents of 26 houses in the market have been relocated to a nearby school.