Larcha dry port completion to be delayed by ‘one year’

TATOPANI, NOV 20 -

Completion of the Larcha dry port will be delayed as a result of transportation problems created by a landslide in Jure, Sindhupalchok, and the sweeping away of the Bhotekoshi bridge by floods.

The bridge was crucial to transporting construction materials to the dry port. The government has also failed to clear houses along the road connecting Miteri Bridge and the dry port. The road expansion and construction of a bridge over Bhotekoshi are included in the dry port contract.

With just two months remaining for the deadline expiry, only 60-65 percent of the construction work has been completed. Technical experts at the project say at the current pace of work, it will take another one year from the deadline to complete the project.

China’s Beijing Real Estate Group Company was awarded the project contract on May 17, 2012, but it started the work only in 2014.

The project was originally planned to be completed within 26 months from the start of the construction. The Chinese government has provided assistance for the project.

Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee (NITDC), which is responsible for the project development, conceded timely completion of the project is impossible.

Laxman Bahadur Basnet, chief executive officer of NITDC, said the contractor has sought deadline extension verbally.

The contractor was forced to halt the work after Bhotekoshi flood swept away the bridge. As a result, transportation of construction materials during the rainy season was affected. The contractor said it had to incur a loss of over Rs 100 million due to the disaster.

Goods imported from India for giving finishing touches to the dry port project have been stuck in Birgunj as heavy vehicles cannot pass through the damaged section of the Araniko Highway.

Sulochana Lamichhane, representative of Beijing Real Estate Company, said they were yet to set a new completion deadline. “We will seek a deadline extension,” she said.

“The construction work will not be hampered if the bridge construction is completed before the next rainy season.”

The dry port is expected to accommodate 158 containers and 35 small vehicles. Based on the agreement at the Nepal-China Joint Economic Committee seven years ago, China agreed to offer assistance for the construction of the dry port in Larcha, Tatopani . The Nepal government had agreed to bear land acquisition costs, while the Chinese side would provide the technical and financial support.

The construction cost of the 345sqm dry port is estimated Rs 1.5 billion. The government had acquired 225 ropanies of land for Rs 60 million.

The dry port will house structures like border infection building, check room, cargo and litigation warehouse, bank, and a residential complex and a weighing machine.

As per Tatopani Customs Chief Mimansa Adhikari, Nepal imports goods worth Rs 18-19 billion through the customs point annually. He expressed hope the traffic congestion would ease once the dry port comes into operation.

Source: The KAthmandu post