A new Frankenstein: How Hydropower projects are disrupting Nepal’s river ecology and local livelihood

Looking at the site of the Sailung Hydropower Project some kilometres away from the Lukusingh village in Bhotekoshi rural municipality of the Sindhupalchok district in central Nepal gives Seti Maya BK anxiety. Her family has lived in Lukusingh for as long as she remembers, but things are not looking good for her as the hydropower project plans to build a water tunnel under the village.

Lukusingh has been prone to landslides, and they have become worse after the 2015 earthquake. The locals claim the village is sinking as its soil is weak. Now, with plans for the hydropower project laying pipe underneath the village, the people live in fear that they might have to relocate from their ancestral homes.