Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (P115767) and its Additional Financing (P132631) | Accountability Console
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Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (P115767) and its Additional Financing (P132631)

Issues

Community health and safety

Description: Complaint raises concerns related to public health and safety including incidents of or an increase in accidents, release of hazardous materials, and spread of diseases. Concerns related to retaliation and/or violence are not included.

Complaints with this Issue: 336

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Consultation and disclosure

Description: Complaint raises concerns regarding inadequate or absent consultation about or disclosure of project information, including project impacts and/or mitigation plans.

Complaints with this Issue: 495

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Cultural heritage

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on any type of tangible or intangible cultural heritage, including significant sites, unique environmental features, cultural knowledge, and traditional lifestyles.

Complaints with this Issue: 113

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Displacement (physical and/or economic)

Description: Complaint raises concerns about physical relocation, loss of shelter, and/or loss of assets that relate to income or livelihood.

Complaints with this Issue: 440

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Environmental

Description: Complaint raises concerns regarding environmental impacts that do not refer specifically to water, pollution, or biodiversity.

Complaints with this Issue: 366

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Indigenous peoples

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on indigenous or traditional communities.

Complaints with this Issue: 85

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Livelihoods

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on the means by which people make a living, including wage-based income, trade and bartering, agriculture, fishing, foraging, and other natural-resource based means.

Complaints with this Issue: 319

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Property damage

Description: Complaint raises concerns about specific harm to property, including buildings, land, or property value. Concerns related to physical or economic displacement, pollution, or community health and safety are not included.

Complaints with this Issue: 154

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Sectors

Energy

Description: Project relates to energy access, legal frameworks regarding the energy sector, and development and operation of energy infrastructure, including power generation and electric and gas distribution and storage. Projects specifically related to the extraction of oil and gas are not included.

Complaints in this Sector: 325

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Description

The Request relates to the construction of a 74-kilometer-long transmission line financed by the project between Bharatpur and Bardaghat, in particular its section in the Binayi Triveni Rural Municipality Ward No. 2, approximately 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu. The Requesters state that a transmission line was rerouted and now passes through their densely populated community, which includes indigenous and non-indigenous residents. They claim that they were neither meaningfully consulted nor provided any information about the project and allege that the current alignment of the transmission line causes adverse impact on community members’ homes, schools, cultural and religious sites, agricultural lands, environment and economic activities, and threatens their health and safety. In regard to involuntary resettlement, the Requesters are concerned about i) land acquired for the tower pads, and ii) land affected by a 30-meter-wide right of way easement along the corridor of the transmission line. The Panel registered the Request on November 30, 2021, and Bank management submitted it response to the issues raised in the Request on January 14, 2022. The Management Response explains that the planning and original alignment of the Bharatpur-Bardaghat transmission line goes back more than 20 years and that many of the related problems and conflicts that the project aimed to address are legacy issues. Management states that it has been aware of the community concerns since well before the Request was submitted and has worked with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to help address them. The Response notes that due to various factors – such as a lag in forest clearances, disagreements between the contractor and the NEA, the political situation and disputes with local landowners – the transmission line was not completed by the time the project closed on October 31, 2021. The Management Response further notes the Requesters’ long-standing opposition to the transmission line and their wish for it to be rerouted. Management states that the Bank has agreed on an action plan with the NEA to address outstanding safeguard obligations and that the NEA has agreed to implement a communications plan by April 2022 intended to address health and safety concerns in an accessible manner. A Panel team, following strict COVID-19 protocols, visited Nepal from January 26 to 31, 2022, to inform its eligibility assessment. In its February 16, 2022, eligibility report for the Board, the Panel noted that there are conflicting assertions between the Requesters and Bank management, and that without an investigation it is not possible to assess whether management has dealt with the issues raised appropriately, sufficiently demonstrated it followed policies and procedures, or whether Management’s proposed actions adequately address the matters raised in the Request. The Board approved the Panel’s recommendation to investigate on March 3, 2022. Under the updated Inspection Panel resolution and the resolution creating the World Bank Accountability Mechanism (AM), following that Board approval the AM Secretary, acting as head of the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), offered the option of dispute resolution to the complainants and borrower and reported to the Board, Panel and Bank management on April 12, 2022, that the parties had voluntarily agreed to engage in the process. Now that they have agreed, the Panel will hold its investigation in abeyance until the process is concluded. If, at the end of the process, the parties reach agreement, the Panel will issue a memorandum closing the case and take no further action. However, if the parties do not eventually reach a dispute resolution agreement, the Panel will commence its investigation. The maximum length of the DR process is one year from when the AM Secretary reports on the parties’ willingness to pursue dispute resolution. If both parties agree, the process may be extended for up to an additional six months. Like the Panel, the DRS, which facilitates the dispute resolution process, honors requests for confidentiality from the complainants.

Complaint Stages

Filing

Oct. 18, 2021

Filing

Status:

Start Date: Oct. 18, 2021

Registration

Oct. 18, 2021 -

Nov. 30, 2021

Registration

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: Oct. 18, 2021

End Date: Nov. 30, 2021

Eligibility

Nov. 30, 2021 -

April 12, 2022

Eligibility

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: Nov. 30, 2021

End Date: April 12, 2022

Dispute Resolution

April 12, 2022 -

April 27, 2023

Dispute Resolution

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: April 12, 2022

End Date: April 27, 2023

Compliance Review

Not Undertaken

Compliance Review

Status: Not Undertaken

Explanation: Case closed in earlier stage, Complaint settled in Dispute Resolution so Compliance Review not offered

Has Compliance Report: No

Non-Compliance Found: No

Monitoring

Not Undertaken

Monitoring

Status: Not Undertaken

Explanation: Mechanism deemed involvement unnecessary, Mechanism chose not to monitor

Closed

April 27, 2023

Timeline

Commitments

Type Category Description Status
Unknown Unknown Unknown Agreements Unknown