Context: India and Nepal signed an agreement on long term power sharing without making any forward movement on Pancheshwar Multipurpose project.
About Pancheshwar Multipurpose project (PMP):
- It is a bi-national hydropower project to be developed on Mahakali River bordering Nepal and India.
- Development of PMP is covered under integrated Mahakali Treaty signed between Nepal and India according to which, equal sizes of underground power house i.e. of 3240MV will be constructed on each side of Mahakali river in India and Nepal.
- It offers the benefit of regulated water for irrigation to a vast area of agricultural land both in Nepal and India along with the benefit of flood control downstream.
About Mahakali Treaty:
- It is an agreement signed in 1996 between the Government of Nepal and the Government of India regarding the development of the watershed of Mahakali River.
- It calls for an integrated development of barrage, dams and hydropower for mutual cooperation of the two countries by managing the water resources.
- It recognizes the Mahakali River as a boundary river between the two countries.
About Mahakali or Sharda River:
- The Sharda River, also called Kali River and Mahakali River, originates at Kalapani in the Himalayas in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, India.
- It flows along Nepal's western border with India.
- It joins the Ghaghra River, a tributary of the Ganges.
- It takes the name Kali River from the union of the two streams at Gunji as it flows through the hills. After Brahmadev Mandi near Tanakpur, it enters the Terai plains, where it is called the Sharda River.