Energy Ministry's projects make good progress despite Covid-19

Kathmandu - The projects run under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation have made tangible progress even amid the spread of coronavirus. In a first quarterly review meeting of the Ministry on Friday, different projects, departments and companies under the Ministry presented their reports stating that the progress was satisfactory. At the meeting, chiefs and representatives of nine agencies from Energy and four from water resources and irrigation made their presentations on the progress. In the first four months of the current fiscal year, the Ministry made 78 per cent fiscal progress and 77.88 per cent physical progress in the energy sector. Similarly, the fiscal progress in the irrigation sector is 42.66 per cent while the physical progress 73.64 per cent.

Overall progress of the Ministry is 68.73 per cent in fiscal and 76.74 per cent in physical. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Energy Barsha Man Pun, who presided over the meeting, expressed pleasure towards the good progress in the performance of the Ministry amid the coronavirus menace. He asked the officials and stakeholders not to repeat the weaknesses of the first quarter in the second quarter. Minister Pun also directed the representatives of line agencies to ensure benefits to the locals and project affected communities in the best possible ways.

Pun urged the officials to inform him on time if there were any obstructions in the development works adding that he himself would make efforts to resolve those obstructions. Likewise, Member of the National Planning Commission Dr Krishna Prasad Oli, Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Water Resources Secretary Madhusudan Adhikari and Secretary at the Water and Energy Commission Sagar Kumar Rai also spoke on the development projects and the progress in the projects under the Ministry.