Back to news
9 Aug 2016 | Blog

Changing Climate and Livelihood Options in Rasuwa

Anju Pandit

1 min Read

70% Complete

Kathmandu, the Nepali capital, is a city with 100 percent reach to the national grid, but it is reeling under 14-16 hours of daily load shedding. Visiting Rasuwa, which has 71 percent access to the national grid, our team hadn’t anticipated brighter evenings. Assuming there would be limited internet access, our emails had been turned on to an automatic reply mode. To our surprise, on the day we reached Dhunche , Headquarter of Rasuwa, we learnt that there are no power cuts, except during extreme weather condition, in the region.  Lodging at a local hotel in Dhunche, we could charge our cameras, work on our laptops and had access to the Internet. We felt connected to our work and family, the reason being the Chimile Hydropower Plant. We were in Dhunche to feature the micro hydro plant and its implications on local livelihood. Our first evening there raised our expectations about the success of our field trip

Upon meeting local officers and NGO staff working in the energy sector, we learnt that the local government has accepted the role of micro hydro in rural electrification. Valuing the role of micro hydro in rural electrification, four micro hydro plants (Maur Khola, Machet Khola,  Kholsang Khola and  Daldhunga Khola) were constructed by the Rasuwa District Development Committee (DDC) with support from the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), and the active participation of the local people. These four micro hydro plants produced 45 kilowatts of electricity, enough to supply electricity to almost 477 households (HH), for four months before the 25 April 2015 earthquake struck. The smooth operation of these projects that had literally lit up the lives and livelihoods of villagers living in this far-flung region was brought to a halt by the quake.

READ MORE…

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Content

Continue exploring this topic

11 Apr 2017 Blog
Reviving the dying tradition of dug wells in Potohar

Dug wells have been the only source of water for many areas in the Potohar region for ages. Agriculture is ...

1 Dec 2016 Blog
Transforming lives, empowering women: The allo value chain in Darchula

“You won’t have to walk. I’ll drop you off at the doorstep of a homestay in Dallekh,” the driver said ...

26 Jul 2018 Blog
Experiences from the Third International REDD+ Training at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand

When I confirmed my participation at the third International REDD+ training at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand, ...

26 Apr 2023 Cryosphere
Schoolchildren from the Himalayan valley of Langtang take in the changing world

Schoolchildren from the Himalayan valley of Langtang in north-central Nepal, 200 km north of Kathmandu, are acutely perceptive of the ...

14 Aug 2017 Blog
It’s not just about the Money – a Story from Rasuwa, Nepal

Lower-income Nepalese youth have improved their earning capacity by opting for foreign employment, working as migrant labourers. Working in countries ...

8 Mar 2018 Blog
My trip to Afghanistan

The question “Will you go to Afghanistan?” was not something I had expected to hear when I first joined the ...

9 Jan 2017 Blog
A ray of hope towards energy security in Nepal

I was just in time to catch my bus to work. Hurriedly, I stepped onto the bus and found a ...

12 Jul 2016 Blog
Field Visit For Micro Hydropower Study In The Upper Gandak River Basin

ICIMOD’s Himalayan Adaptation, Water, and Resilience (HI-AWARE) initiative is implementing three work packages – knowledge generation, research into use, and ...