NEA calls new bids for Koshi-hit towers

THIRA L. BHUSAL
KATHMANDU, Nov 17

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to re-invite tenders to build electricity towers along the cross-border Kataiya-Duhabi transmission line between Nepal and India. Nepal can import 90 MW of electricity from India once the towers, demolished by the Koshi River in August, are restored.

An NEA board meeting on Monday directed the public utility to immediately re-invite the tenders as one of the two companies vying for the project was technically disqualified. NEA could not proceed as there was just a single company left, said NEA officials.

"This time [after re-tender] we will select a builder even if there is only one company bidding for it," Yugal Kishor Shah, General Manager, Transmission and System Operation at NEA, told The Post.

NEA regulation allows it to select a builder even if there is a single company bidding for the project after re-inviting the tender, he said.

Five towers along the cross-border transmission line had collapsed due to the flood.
The river demolished the towers when it breached its embankment at West Kusaha in Sunsari district on Aug. 18 and flowed eastward changing its previous course. Nepal had been importing 50 MW electricity through the same transmission line which was stopped after the Koshi havoc.
NEA had signed an agreement with PTC India Limited to import additional 60 MW electricity during the Power Summit-2008 in Kathmandu in September. Of that, 20 MW will be imported from Tanakpur transmission line starting Dec. 16, according to Shah.

But Nepal has been unable to import 40 MW electricity as per the new agreement. Thus, the demolition of towers had disrupted 90 MW [50 MW as per the previous arrangement and 40 MW as per the new agreement] of electricity supply.

"The restoration of towers will be completed in about two months after construction starts," said Shah.
According to NEA officials, not many tenders have been received owing to the challenging nature of the task. It needs special expertise and equipment, which only a few construction companies in Nepal have. The foundation of some of the towers go as deep as 30 metres below the riverbed.
The work will be easier if the task of rerouting the Koshi River to its previous course is completed early. The government of India, which has mobilised a contractor to re-route the river, has said the task will be completed by mid-December. Indian officials have also said they will plug the breached section of the embankment by March end.

Meanwhile, NEA has also requested the Indian authority to make arrangements for setting up emergency towers, which can be done only by the Indian side. An Indian team is in Nepal to study the technical feasibility of the emergency arrangement.

"If viable, the work will be completed on a fast-track mode," Shah added.

THE KATHMANDU POST