Govt set to invite DPR proposals for 420-km Butwal-Gaddachwoki section
KATHMANDU, APR 18 -
The government is set to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of yet another section of the Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway. The Department of Railways is preparing to invite Request for Proposal (RFP) from short-listed international consulting firms soon.
According to the department, it will invite the RFP for 420km Butwal-Gaddachowki sector which also includes a 14km-long link railway route that connects Kohalpur with Nepalgunj. Butwal-Gaddachowki is the fourth section after Basdibas-Simara, Timara-Tamsaria and Tamsaria-Butwal-Bhairahawa sections on which the government is preparing the DPR for construction.
“We have already short listed four eligible consultants for each package and are preparing to call the RFP from them soon,” said Rajeshwor Man Singh, superintendent engineer of the department. Eight consortiums of around two dozen companies from South Korean, Germen, Italian, Spanish, Austrian, Indian and Nepali have been short listed for the DPR.
The DPR will include a detailed design of the railway routes, other infrastructure required alongside the route, cost estimation and bid documents for construction.
The department officials said that the detailed study of the Butwal-Gaddachowki section would be carried out in four packages—115km Butwal-Lamahi, 102km Lamahi-Kohalpur and 14km Kohalpur-Nepalgunj link, 94km Kohalpur-Sukhkhad and 94km Sukhkhad-Gaddachowki.
Dohwa Engineering Co Ltd (South Korea), ILF Consulting (Austria), Rites Limited (India), Italfeer SpA (Italy), Gauff Rail Engineering GmbH Co (Germany), SENER Ingeneria y Sistemas SA (Spain) and Full Bright Consultancy (Nepal) are among the firms applying for the DPR of Butwal-Gaddachowki section.
Rites of India which had conducted the feasibility study for whole of the Mechi-Mahakali railway , also known as East-West railway project, estimated the project cost at Rs 800 billion.
Meanwhile, the DPR of the first section Bardibas-Simara and its link route Simara-Birgunj was completed by South Korean consultant.
The report shows the construction of the Bardibas-Simara (including of the link route) would cost up to Rs 99 billion depending on facility, safety measures, quality and level of service to be incorporated in the railway construction plan.
The government for long has been planning of developing railway as an alternative means to land transport for faster and cheaper transport service.
The government’s plans on railway sector include construction of new railway lines in the country which include 945km Mechi-Mahakali Railway, 259km Pokhara-Kathmandu railway including extension to Mechi-Mahakali railway and 113km six connection links from Mechi-Mahakali Railway to Indian Railway network.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
