The third deadline for the civil work of the national pride Bheri-Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project expired on Chaitra 20, but only 57 percent of the physical progress has been made. The contractor company, which has completed 47 percent of the financial work, has requested for a fourth extension. 

Raman Construction and China's Guangdong-Union JV had won the contract for the civil work under the second phase of the project in Shrawan 2076. This JV was given the responsibility of construction for four years at a cost of Rs 6.16 billion 5.2 million. However, after the work was not completed, the deadline was extended for a second time in Mangsir 2080 for one year. However, after the work was not completed within the stipulated period, the deadline was extended for the third time in Bhadra for 7 months. The third deadline also expired last Friday.

The contractor company will have to construct a dam on the civil side with a 114-meter-long and 14-meter-high bridge on the Bheri River and a power power house at Hattikhal. The company requested an extension of the deadline for about 3 years and 4 months in the last week of last Falgun, said project director Haridatta Poudel. 

‘The company initially cited the Corona pandemic as the reason, later it was said to be a shortage of construction materials, and the work could not pick up speed as the design estimate we provided changed from time to time,’ he said, ‘However, in the latter phase, its work is satisfactory, we are preparing a file for an extension of the deadline.’ He said that there was no option to extend the deadline as it would take time to break the contract and start a new process. 

Raman said that a few months ago, when it was seen that the civil works could not be completed on time, the project had called a representative of its partner Chinese company Guangdong-Union Company. The representative of the company responded positively saying that both would work together, and therefore the deadline had to be extended, said project director Poudel. Currently, three works are being carried out in the project - civil, electrical and hydro-electrical. Rs 1.75 billion has been allocated for this this year. 

Even after the consultant company changed, there was some delay in the work, said Hari Bahadur Thapa, the project's information officer. "An Iranian consultant company had taken over the responsibility, but after the US imposed international sanctions on Iran, the contract with that company had to be terminated," he said. "It took about 4/5 months to appoint another consultant, which also delayed the work." NEA Engineering Company is currently working as a consultant on the project. This company is under the Nepal Electricity Authority. 

Last October, the contract for the Sunkoshi-Marinma dam, power house, and other civil structures in another multi-purpose project of national pride was terminated with Raman Construction. "Even after the contract was canceled, the contractor company faced problems in mobilization," said an engineer of the project. "There have also been some problems in the construction due to the increase in the flow of the Bheri River during the rainy season." Hikmat Lamsal, representative of Raman Construction, said that the construction was delayed due to the Corona pandemic, shortage of construction materials, renewal of insurance, bank guarantees, etc. after the deadline was extended, changes in the flow of water in the river, repeated changes in the design estimate, and not receiving the design on time. 

The work of the second and third phases of the Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Project, whose first phase (tunnel construction) was completed almost a year ahead of schedule, has been delayed. The work of the project was stopped for about a month due to Dashain-Tihar and other reasons. According to Bheriganga Municipality Mayor Yagya Prasad Dhakal, the work has slowed down due to the lack of technicians and workers at the construction site. "The government has allocated a budget, but there is not much work pressure at the project site," he said. "If the project is completed, it will greatly help the development of Karnali, so it is necessary to work on all sides to complete it on time."

The government had said that the project, which was supposed to start in the fiscal year 2068/69, had started only in 2071/72. The deadline for the project has been extended until the fiscal year 2084/85. Currently, work is being done under the second and third phases of the project, including dam and powerhouse construction, hydro-mechanical, electro-mechanical installation and construction. Similarly, work is being done on the construction of headworks, foundation, cofferdam, anchor block, etc., according to Information Officer Thapa. Along with the dam work in Chiple, he said that the foundation of the power house is also being dug in Hattikhal on the Babai side.