FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19 FROM MARCH 2020

The pandemic situation due to outbreak of COVID-19 in late December 2019 was a major challenge to the work progress at site. For effective control of spreading this fatal epidemic, China locked down its territory from January 23, 2020. Since the Main Civil Contractor of the Project is a Chinese company (Zhejiang First Hydro), the machineries, accessories for repair and maintenance as well as various construction equipment and materials could not be imported from China by the Contractor since January and thus the Project was affected much before the Government of Nepal took measures to restrict the spread of virus in the country. The nationwide lockdown imposed by the Government effective from March 24, 2020 in Nepal further caused a severe restriction in materials transport, availability of local human resources and overall inconvenience for smooth working in the Project.

Thanks to multiple joint efforts from the Employer, the Engineer and the Contractor, even during the period of extreme lockdown, the Contractor was not forced to completely shut down the construction works and a considerable progress could be achieved in areas as instructed by the Engineer, especially at the Headworks. Commendable efforts by the Employer and the Contractors prevented a significant loss of structural and financial damages.

However, dangerous spread of the pandemic across Nepal and unavailability of vaccines made the Chinese workers increasingly restless and concerned about their health and safety. The Main Civil Contractor requested the Employer for complete shutdown of project so that they could return to China for preventive measures and return after vaccination. However, in the Monthly Coordination meeting held on September 25, 2020 the Employer and Engineer rejected the request of the Contractor for a complete shutdown and suggested to proceed with the construction works employing Nepali Sub-Contractors for excavation of tunnel and excavation and concreting of Powerhouse and Tailrace floodwall. Almost all Chinese workers had gone home for vaccination. Until their return the Main Civil Contractor had been carrying out tunnel excavation from the adit and outlet, surge shaft and excavation and concreting of Powerhouse components through Nepali subcontractors. However, the first batch of 20 vaccinated Chinese managers arrived at site and work fronts at the gravel trap, intake and settling basins resumed since March 2021 with the manpower of the sub-contractors. Although these efforts from all parties prevented a complete shutdown of the Project and also helped make some progress on several construction fronts, the momentum of construction process was lost and the planned progress could not be achieved.    

Due to various logistical problems created by the first wave of the pandemic, the organization and planning of construction works was disrupted and thus, construction of undersluice/ intake and associated hydro-mechanical works couldn’t be completed as planned before the arrival of first flood of the monsoon (July 2020). The flood washed off the cofferdam much earlier than anticipated rendering the entire partially constructed undersluice structure under water. The weir construction works that were originally scheduled in the dry season of 2020 has already been delayed and is planned to be resumed by re-coffering the area in the dry season of 2021. The delayed commencement of the weir construction will consequently affect the projected commercial operation milestone.

SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19 FROM APRIL 2021

As the construction works was gaining momentum and the Project team was working on future measures to minimize the duration of the already caused delay on these fronts and its financial impact, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Nepal. Due to an alarming rate of rise in cases of COVID infection, the Government of Nepal decided to impose prohibitory order from Baisakh 16, 2078 (April 29, 2021). This has further affected the construction progress of the Project, which was gradually getting on track from the impact of first wave.

The Employer along with the Engineer and the Contractors, with the prior experience from the first wave, prepared isolation centers, kept stock of medicines and followed proper safety guidelines to face the serious challenge posed by the second wave of COVID. The construction works were carried out with high safety precautions to cover the already endured delay. Despite following all safety measures and periodic testing of all employees working at the site facilitated by the Employer, almost 110 members working at the site tested positive in a mass PCR testing. Out of these, 4 members from the Employer and 106 members from the Main Civil Contractor (including 14 Chinese workers and 92 workers from Nepali sub-contractors) were found COVID positive. The workers and staffs, who tested positive, were properly isolated in the isolation centers prepared by the Employer and the Contractor with adequate medical support and personal care. The entire construction site was immediately sealed and construction activities were completely halted.

Currently, almost all of the construction work fronts that were temporarily suspended due to COVID have been resumed since mid-July, 2021. The second wave has certainly hampered the desired progress at the site beyond our expectations. With uncertainty of the effect of the COVID’s variants in Nepal, the Employer, the Engineer and the Contractor are highly concerned about the construction progress, health and safety of their employees and have been working to minimize the further delay in construction. Since COVID-19 infections with new variants of virus keep appearing in the community, its complete prevention and control at the project site will certainly be challenging.

Furthermore, it is now apparent that all Chinese workers, who went to China for vaccination, probably will not return to the project site. Although the Chinese workers are replaced by Nepali workers through sub-contractual arrangements by the Main Civil Contractor, the pace of progress is much slower than required.  Repeated temporary pauses in the construction activities caused by the pandemic will certainly affect the overall organization, planning and execution of the project work and as a consequence further extension of the completion date may become inevitable.