By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 27: Operators of hydropower projects and road and tunnel construction companies have asked Nepali Army (NA) for a supply of required quantities of explosives to push ahead their projects speedily.
Owners of hydropower companies and officials present at an interaction porgramme organised by the Nepali Army Headquarters on Wednesday demanded smooth supply of the required explosives from the NA’s Sunachari Emulsion Plant stationed at Suparitar in Hetauda.
They also commented on the quality and high price of the explosives supplied by the NA, which they said was comparatively higher than the explosives imported from other countries.
Bhim Ghimire of Sinohydro Corporation said that the explosives purchased from the NA’s Sunachari Emulsion Plant did not explode properly although they had to purchase the explosives paying higher price than their market price in the neighbouring countries.
The NA had organised the interaction programme to inform about its newly installed emulsion plant having production capacity of 2,400 tonnes per year.
Before this, the NA was producing the explosives from single-base propellant plant having a capacity of only 1,200 tonnes a year.
According to Major General Ajit Bar Singh Thapa, the newly installed high quality and modern emulsion plant can now produce required explosives, but this has to be run in two shifts to meet the demand.
Currently, the national demand of explosives is 5,000 tonnes a year. “We are hopeful that the newly installed emulsion plant can produce the explosives to meet the demand of the private sectors,” Major General Thapa said.
The NA had first installed the emulsion plant in 2037 B.S.
According to Thapa they had to rely on the neigbhouring countries, India and China, to buy the raw materials (ammonium nitrate) to produce the explosives from its plant.
The NA has been selling the explosives at Rs. 198 per kg. However, the private sectors have been claiming that the price of the explosives is higher in Nepal than in the neighbouring countries.
Binod Devkota of Myagdi Hydropower Project floated an idea of managing intermediate provision to have an easy access to the required explosives if the NA fails to meet their demand.
“As a contractor of the under construction hydropower project, we have to buy explosives from the NA, and if the NA fails to provide the required explosives in time, the project has to incur a loss of Rs. 3 million per day because the project works get extended in absence of explosives,” Devkota said.
Meanwhile, Major General Thapa said that explosives produced from the new plant would have maximum one year’s life for its strong effect in the detonation site. However, those produced from the old emulsion plant will expire in three months, added Thapa.
“When the private firms do not use the purchased explosives in time, their impact will be less effective than their expectation,” he said.
Other officials from the private projects demanded an end to the long documentation processes before purchasing the explosives.