Repair work on the access road leading to the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project has gathered momentum, and it is expected to be completed before the upcoming monsoon.

The 60 MW hydropower project is located in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts in the north of Kathmandu.

A Nepal Army team deployed to repair various sections of the road has said that it will complete the repair work by the end of the June, said the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the owner of the project

A technical team of the Nepalese Army consisting of 30 army personnel was assigned to repair the access road and build protection on either side of the plant’s dam after it was damaged by the 2015 earthquake.

The army team, according to the NEA, has completed repairing critical sections of the access road. It has also finished clearing the road of large boulders that fell in a landslide triggered by the tremor.

“Currently, army personnel are constructing retention walls at various sections of the road to make it stronger,” said Ambikesh Jha, the site in-charge of the project. “Considering the pace at which they have been working, they are very likely to complete the task before the monsoon.”

Likewise, the army team has started repairing landslide affected areas near the sideways of the dam. Earthquake triggered landslides also affected areas close to both sides of the dam posing a threat to its safety. The army team is planning to prevent landslides by installing netting and fencing the area with special types of wires.

China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), the contractor for the project, had stopped construction work after the crucial access road connecting the headworks and the powerhouse was damaged by the earthquake.

The contractor has also demanded mitigation of landslides on both sides of the dam, saying that they would pose serious threat to it.

Although the project contractor was supposed to build the access road for the project, differences emerged over who should repair it. The dispute was settled after the consultant for the project and an independent team of experts submitted a report stating the damaged access road should be rebuilt by the NEA.

An NEA board meeting then requested the government to mobilise Nepalese Army personnel to repair the road. Subsequently in the beginning of January, a Cabinet meeting directed the army to repair the road and mitigate landslides.

The army team started work in February.