Bastola said his party’s central committee has decided that Indian investment would not be allowed in the projects like Upper Karnali. If the investor, GMR group of India, resumes construction work, there could be bloodshed, he warned. [break]
“A few days ago, action was taken against Upper Karnali, which was a very good thing,” said Bastola at a press conference in Birendranagar. “Action taken against GMR is in the national interest.”
Meanwhile, Indian workers involved in the construction of Upper Karnali project, being built under a Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) model by India’s GMR group, have returned home saying there is no longer a working environment at the project site.
Bhagawat Singh, a foreman, who was seen calculating the wages of workers at Tuinkuna, the construction site, on Wednesday said, “They (workers) have to be sent home now as the construction work has stopped.”
Ten workers under Singh’s supervision have already left for their homes and will not return until the employers summon them back. The Indian workers were conducting borehole testing, tunnel testing, and diamond drilling at Tuinkuna.
The GMR group had entrusted these works to India’s Super Engineering Works (SEW). According to SEW geologist Saurabh Singh, the workers have completed only 30 percent of their work. “We had a lot more to do,” he said. “But we have to go now leaving the works midway.”
Tuinkuna is the project’s dam site. According to Detailed Project Report (DPR) that GMR submitted to the government on May 20, 2010, the construction of the run-of-river project will stretch from Tuinkuna of Karnali River to Sisne area.
Locals condemn attack
The Upper Karnali Village Stakeholders Committee formed in Bhairavsthan village of Accham district has condemned the attack on the GMR project offices at Paltada. Committee Chairman Bam Bahadur BC said the committee on Thursday demanded police action against the attackers.
“Even we have reservations about some points in the agreement between GMR and the government. But we believe such disagreements need to be sorted out through dialogue,” he said. BC also expressed sadness over media reports that the attack was carried out by locals.
Police have said that eyewitnesses on Thursday gave statements that Maoist cadres were involved in attacking the buildings.
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