About the project and its impacts
The Tanahu Hydropower Project is being developed by Tanahu Hydropower Limited, which is fully owned by the Nepal Electricity Authority. The project will construct a 140-meter high concrete dam with a reservoir about 25 kilometers long on the Seti River in Tanahu District, Gandaki Zone, in Nepal. The SinoHydro Corporation constructed affiliated facilities for the project. The Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency have provided funding to the project.
Communities have been raising concerns about the failure to uphold free, prior and informed consent and inadequate compensation for loss of lands and livelihoods.
About the community-led struggle
“As indigenous Magars, our lives depend on the land and natural resources. The project has and will cause direct and material harm to our ancestral land, our livelihoods, and traditional practices. Our agricultural land, structures in the farms, cremation sites, bridges, roads and trails and our water resources will be directly affected by the project, and we will be displaced once the farming land is full of water.” (Sher Bahadur Thapa, community member)
In February 2020, Indigenous communities affected by the Tanahu Hydropower Project filed complaints with the independent accountability mechanisms of the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank — two co-financiers of the project — requesting an independent mediation process. In particular, they called for ‘land for land’ and ‘house for house’ compensation; re-survey of land left out during the ‘Detailed Measurement Survey’ of the project, and free, prior and informed consent in the project process.
“Communities have made many attempts to resolve their concerns with the company, relevant government agencies, and the operations department of the Asian Development Bank. To date, however, their demands remain unresolved. The indigenous communities seek redress through these complaint mechanisms.” (Indira Shreesh, lawyer at the Indigenous Women’s Legal Awareness Group)
With support from the CRE, in 2022 INWOLAG facilitated a three-day training with local communities to:
- provide a basic introduction to the roles of development banks, policies, independent accountability mechanisms, and safeguards.
- build capacities on negotiation skills and reinforcing the community’s demands in the dispute resolution process.
- make them aware of Dalit rights and indigenous rights with a focus on rights to lands, territories, resources, culture, customary livelihood practices, and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
- raise the morale of the affected families and motivate and support them in continuing their struggle for justice, including through a session on sustainable community-led development activities.
As a result of the workshop, the community felt more aware of their rights and more confident in advocating for their rights, as shown by the participation of two Dalit and one Newar community members at a dispute resolution meeting with EIB-Compliance Mechanism (CM) team in July 2022.
Further resources
- Indigenous Women’s Legal Awareness Group website
- CHRD Member: Indigenous Women’s Legal Awareness Group
- Development banks under fire for backing disputed Nepal hydropower project
- Magar indigenous community protests Tanahu Hydropower project, alleging lack of adequate information & consultation
- Nepali villagers make voices heard on Tanahu hydropower project
- Indigenous communities affected by the Tanahu Hydropower Project in Nepal file complaints with the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank
- Why Nepal’s Indigenous Magars are opposing Tanahu Hydropower Project?
- ADB violates its own safeguard policies in Nepal Hydropower Project
- Impacts of livelihood assets on hydropower displacees’ livelihood strategies: Insights from the Tanahu hydropower project in Nepal
- Tanahun Hydropower stalled over forest compensation fund