010-i

Advisory review: EIA for Arun III hydropower project - Nepal

Project details

Status

Issued

Country

Nepal

Activity type

ESIA/SEA advice

Subject

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), Hydropower, Infrastructure, Transport

Last modified

10 May 2019

The NCEA issued an advisory review of an EIA report summary for the large-scale Arun III hydropower project in Nepal. It had various critical observations. Based on this and other information, the World Bank decided to withhold its funding and instead explore opportunities for small-scale water power projects.

Significant details

The Commission’s advice discusses the way in which the proposal had been selected from a number of alternatives. The selection did not take place according to social environmental criteria, but only took economic factors into account. The alternatives presented in the EIS bear no relation to the project itself, and yet they are presented as alternative options for implementing the same proposal. Moreover, the project has not been placed within broader planning context for development of the Arun catchment, and international management aspects have been ignored. Local and national costs and benefits of the proposal (social and environmental costs and benefits included) have not been compared, while the impact of the greater accessibility of the valley on its ecological sustainability has not been estimated. The Commission also found the level of detail in the descriptions of the mitigation measures in the executive summary to be insufficient for making a reliable judgement. The document contains no review of data on the safety of the dam. Concerning social sustainability, the description of the current situation and the explanation of predicted impacts are inadequate, making it impossible to evaluate the mitigating measures. In addition, the EIS provides insufficient information on the institutional infrastructure required for the project, and the way this can be put into place and financed. The EIS was compiled for the World Bank, which decided in early August 1995 to withhold its authorization for a loan, and to investigate with Nepal whether a small-scale exploitation of water power would be possible.

Advisory reports and other documents

02 Jun 1994: Advisory review

Parties involved

Members of the working group

prof. dr. ir. Agema

ir. Julitta Leesberg

Noorduyn

drs. Jeroen Cyrillus Jozef van Wetten

dr. van Wijnen

Chair

dr. Jacques de Smidt

Technical secretary

ing. Reinoud Post

Proponent

Nepal Electricity Authority

Competent authority

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs