Ahead of its inauguration by PM Modi next month, India-funded hydel project targetted in Nepal

A bomb exploded on Sunday at the office of a hydroelectricity project being developed with Indian assistance in eastern Nepal, weeks before its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official said.

“The office of the 900 MW Arun III Hydroelectric Power Plant was targeted by unidentified assailants earlier on Sunday,” Shiva Raj Joshi, Chief District Officer of the Sankhuwasabha said.

He informed media persons that no group had claimed responsibility for the blast yet.

“The compound wall of the office in Khandbari-9, Tumlingtar, nearly 500 km from Kathmandu, was damaged in the explosion,” said Joshi.

He added that no one was injured in the incident and a probe was already underway.

The blast comes at a time when preparations are going on for laying foundation stone of the project by PM Modi during his official visit to Nepal on May 11.

A Project Development Agreement (PDA) for Arun III was signed with India's state-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) on November 25, 2014 in the presence of the then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and visiting Prime Minister Modi.

India is investing approximately Rs 5,732 crore in the hydel project, according to minutes of a Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting in February last year, which was chaired by PM Modi

The run-of-the-river project is slated to come into operation by September 2020.

On April 17, a pressure cooker bomb went off near the Indian Embassy field office in Biratnagar damaging the walls of the premises.

(with inputs from PTI and IANS)