MAHALISAGAR - RECONSTRUCTION, NOT "NEW DAM"

Attention of the Embassy of India has been drawn to reports in the media about the construction of a 'New dam" near the India-Nepal border in Kapilvastu area. It is regrettable that such misleading reports have appeared regarding the over 100 years old Mahalisagar.

2. On this matter, the Embassy of India would like to state the following:

1. Mahalisagar was constructed in 1901, under an agreement with Nepal.
   
2. Mahalisagar structure comprises a 'bund' or an 'embankment' approximately 2.20 km. long stretching between border pillars 50 and 52.
   
3. The Sagar has two escape regulators. One is an ungated escape approximately 100 ft. wide with Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 92.76 m and the other is a gated escape with Crest Level (CL) of 91.60 m.
   
4. The gated escape which consisted of 5 bays gates each 1.67 m wide was damaged about 12 years ago.
   
5. India had informed Nepal of its intention to reconstruct the damaged gated escape and in September 2000 a joint survey of Mahalisagar was done by the Contact Officers from Nepal and India. It was decided to construct the gated escape regulator keeping the crest level same as that of the old damaged gated escape regulator. The parameter for design of the gated escape regulator were decided as
   Discharge 102 cumecs
   FRL 92.76 m
   Crest Level 91.60 m
   
6. Because of the higher discharge parameter conveyed by the Contact Officer of the Nepalese side, the number of bays gates were increased from 5 to 15. Each bay being designed to be 2 m. wide.
   
7. In September 2002 the designs of the gated regulator to be constructed in place of the damaged gated regulator were prepared and in October 2002 were forwarded to the Nepalese Contact Officer who conveyed approval of the design in December 2002.
   
8. While no "new dam" was constructed, work on the reconstruction of the gated escape regulator of the over 100 years old Mahalisagar was started in January 2003. The construction has reached a level of approximately 89.30 m as on 17 March 2003.

3. The Embassy of India would like to categorically state that as per the understanding between India and Nepal there will be no alteration in the FRL as well as the crest level of the regulator of Mahalisagar. Therefore, there should be no apprehension about the raising of FRL or the increase in the crest level of the escapes and reduction in the width of flank escapes of Mahalisagar.

4. It is surprising that reconstruction work in about 40 m segment of the 2200 m long embankment of the over 100 year old Mahalisagar has been described by some reports as the construction of a "new dam". It is also unfortunate that the increase of the gates from 5 to 15 in the new gated escape under construction has been seen with apprehension. The increase in the number of gates allows for the discharge of 102 cumecs as desired by the Nepalese experts. This only allows the passage of water and thus reduces possibility of flooding in case of heavy rainfall.

5. The Embassy hopes to receive the cooperation of the media to ensure that misinformation does not create misunderstanding between the people of India and Nepal and affect the friendly relations between the two countries.