Work on the 60-MW Upper Trishuli 3 ‘A' Hydro Electricity Project will start within three months, according to an official.

After a 10-month delay in the completion of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, the Department of Environment and Social Studies (DoESS) conducted a public hearing to explain findings of the EIA to locals living near the proposed site in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, on Feb. 24, 2010 at Nuwakot's Simle.

Initiated last May, the EIA was halted for 10 months as local residents resorted to obstructions, demanding compensation for potential social and environment-related problems that the project may cause.

Deva Sharma Paudel, the DoESS acting director under Nepal Electricity Authority, said the EIA report will be submitted to the Ministry of Energy next week and the government will soon sign a contract agreement with China Gezhouba Water and Power Group Company Limited for project execution.

China is injecting a soft loan amounting to $ 14 million for the project expected to complete in three years at a cost of $ 125.75 million.