Because it is there: Foreign money, foreign advice and Arun III

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The debate swirling around the Arun III project has been the first controversy about a major development project in Nepal. The democratic changes of 1990 allowed the public to speak up on matters on which they had remained silent for decades, and this dam project planned for the Arun Kosi river in east Nepal provided the first opportunity for those who were concerned enough to question the mistaken developmental path that had led to a project such as this.

Since 1987, this one project has become synonymous with hydro-power development in Nepal, as the government and donor agencies seemingly want to consider nothing else. Conceptualised as a 402 megawatt project at the outset, for a site known as Arun III (third of the six sites initially identified in the Arun Valley), the Nepali Government de-cided in 1992 to proceed with the first half of Arun III, to provide 201MW of power. The final decision on funding this oversized "Baby Arun" has yet to be taken by the donors.

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Himal Southasian
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