Governing council of Pancheswar Development Authority meet next week

Kathmandu January 31- The Governing Council of Pancheswar Development Authority (PDA) is likely to meet in Kathmandu next week. Although the meeting was scheduled to be held on the second week of January, it was cancelled at the last hour, citing emergency reasons.

Addressing an event in Kathmandu on Friday, Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said the meeting would take place this week.

 PDA CEO Mahendra Bahadur Gurung also said the meeting would be held in February, but he did not specify the date. “We are working with the Indian side to set a date. We will set a date within next one or two days,” Gurung said.

The meeting is expected to discuss a number of issues, including the authority’s institutional arrangement, its budget for the upcoming fiscal year and the status of Wapcos Limited, an Indian company assigned to upgrade the data for the integration of two detailed project reports (DPRs) prepared separately by Nepal and India. 

Energy Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma will lead the Nepali side, while secretary of India’s Water Resource Ministry Shashi Shekhar will head the Indian side in the meeting. The two secretaries are also co-chairs of the governing council.