Nepal Oil Corporation is going to build a state-of-the-art depot with storage of petroleum products for one month in Lumbini. The current depot located in the middle of the densely populated areas has increased the security challenge, and after the locals warned that the depot should be relocated, preparations have been made to relocate it to Rohini and Omasatiya Rural Municipality of Rupandehi.

A detailed project report (DPR) has been prepared to build a fuel depot on 25 and a half bigha land. The Consultancy Services Department of Kathmandu University handed over the DPR to the corporation's storage capacity enhancement project on Wednesday. It is estimated that the cost of DPR will be Rs 5,793,364,000 (excluding VAT). Pradeep Kumar Yadav, project head, said that the construction of the state-of-the-art depot will be started as soon as the budget is approved in August as the DPR is ready. According to him, under the special instructions of Industry, Commerce and Supply Minister Damodar Bhandari and Corporation Executive Director Chandika Prasad Bhatt, a fuel depot with modern facilities will be built.

After the budget is approved, the tender evaluation and contract agreement will be done by November. The target is to be able to build in three years," Yadav said at a press conference held on Wednesday, "Tenders are called for in the EPC model. The depot will be prepared within the cost of the DPR. The currently operational Lumbini Regional Office, Valbari (Rupandehi) is in a densely populated area. It cannot meet the demand of petroleum products. The storage capacity of the depot spread over about five and a half bigha land is low. Valbari depot has a storage house with a capacity of 519 kiloliters for petrol, 3040 kiloliters for diesel and 280 kiloliters for kerosene.

The daily and regular trading of inflammable substances like petroleum from the depot, which is connected to the Butwal-Bhairawa main highway and is in the middle of densely populated areas, poses a security challenge. Keeping this issue in mind, the Corporation has said that DPR has been prepared in collaboration with Kathmandu University. An agreement was signed on November 12, 2081 between Kathmandu University, Consultancy Services Department and the Corporation's Storage Capacity Enhancement Project. According to the

corporation, the newly built state-of-the-art depot will have 3 vertical tanks that can hold 4,500 kiloliters of diesel (total of 13,500 kiloliters). With two vertical tanks of 2 thousand 100 kiloliter capacity and one vertical tank of 760 kiloliter capacity, 4 thousand 960 kiloliters of petrol can be stored. 228 kiloliters of kerosene can be stored in 3 vertical tanks of 76 kiloliter capacity. According to the corporation, this storage can meet the demand of Lumbini for at least 1 month.

Two water tanks with a capacity of 2,100 kiloliters will be built inside the depot for the fire protection system. In which a total of 4,200 kiloliters of water will be stored. According to the corporation, eight bays will be constructed in the fuel loading shed and 8 bays in the unloading shed.

According to the corporation, the corporation has 11 and a half bigha of land in Rohini and Omasatiya rural municipalities. The process has already started from the Ministry of Home Affairs and District Administration Office, Rupandehi, to bring an additional 8 and a half bigha of land in the area into the ownership of the corporation. In-principle approval has been received from Rohini and Omasatiya Rural Municipality for the construction of fuel depot at that location. 97 local people who are occupying waste land have given their written consent to provide the necessary support and coordination for the construction of the depot.

'According to the Land Acquisition Act, 2034, about five and a half bigha connected to the main road to the land, the acquisition process has already started. In this way, a modern and well-equipped depot will be built in an area of about 25 and a half bighas, said Yadav. Vivek Baral, Head of Kathmandu University Consultancy Services Department, said that Nepalese engineers are already capable of designing and building infrastructure.

"We have presented an example that DPR of big projects can be made by using indigenous people," he said. Sushil Bhattarai, former acting executive director of the corporation, says that considering the increasing consumption of petroleum products in Lumbini, it is necessary to build a new depot. Bhattarai, who is working as a petroleum expert at Kathmandu University, said that there is no option to relocate the Valbari depot quickly.

'Bhalbari has storage to meet demand for two-three days. Fuel is transported from Amlekhganj to that place. If the highway is blocked due to some reason, there will be a problem in supply in Lumbini province," he said. According to Ramhari Niraula, the deputy director of the corporation, after the completion of the work of clearing the land on the banks of the Rohini river and the construction of the gabion mesh, the depot is ready for construction.