The deadline for the civil works under the second phase of the national pride Bheri-Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project has been extended for the fourth time till Mangsir. The long delay in the second phase has also hampered the hydromechanical and electromechanical works of the third and fourth phases. This has pushed the construction of the project.

Raman Construction and China's Guangdong-Union JV had signed a contract agreement in Shrawan 2076 for Rs 6.165 billion to complete the civil works of the project within 4 years. After the JV failed to complete the work within the stipulated time, the deadline was extended for the second time in Mangsir 2080 for one year and for the third time in Bhadra last year for 7 months. The third deadline expired on Chaitra 20 last year.

After the work was not completed for the third time, the company requested an extension of 3 years and 4 months. ‘It was also a problem to immediately terminate the contract and go through a new contract process,’ said Haridatta Poudel, the project director. ‘The deadline could not be extended even by the time he asked, so we have extended the deadline by 210 days.’

According to him, the contractor company will have to construct a dam with 114 meters long and 14 meters high bridge on the Bheri River on the civil side, along with 6 gates, and an electric power house at Hattikhal. According to him, the company initially stated that the work could not be completed on time, citing the Corona pandemic and the recent shortage of construction materials. After the extension, he informed that his work was satisfactory. He said that 43 percent physical progress has been seen in the work so far.

In the first phase, the China Overseas Engineering Company opened a 12.20 km long tunnel using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) at a cost of about Rs 10.56 billion. ‘In the second phase, two of the six main dams on the civil side are nearing completion, while 70 percent of the settling basin work has been completed,’ said Hari Bahadur Thapa, the project’s information officer. ‘However, the work on the anchor block, powerhouse and surge shaft for the penstock pipe is yet to be completed.’

China’s Zhejiang Orient Engineering Company Limited (JEOC) has taken over the responsibility of the third and fourth phases. It had signed an agreement for the hydromechanical work in the third phase on November 20, 2019 at a cost of Rs 2.13 billion. So far, about 85 percent of the gate stoplog and penstock pipe production work has been completed, while the installation is yet to be completed, said Senior Divisional Engineer Thapa.

According to him, an agreement was signed on July 19, 2079 for the construction of the fourth phase of electromechanical works at a cost of Rs 3.28 billion. According to which, turbines, generators, transformers, overhead cranes and other equipment have been manufactured. ‘Since the civil structures have not been built, there has also been a problem in installing the hydro equipment,’ Thapa said. ‘Some machines have been manufactured in China and have arrived at the construction site, while some have been made in the workshop in Hattikhal, now all that remains is to install them.’ He informed that the overall physical progress of both contracts is 60 percent.

The company has extended the deadline for the third phase of work for the second time until October 12. ‘Due to the lack of infrastructure work on the civil side, other work has also been stopped,’ said Information Officer Thapa. ‘Due to the second contract, the contractors of the third and fourth contracts were forced to extend the deadline.’

The fifth phase will include the construction of the transmission line. The DPR for this has been completed, and the Ministry of Forests and Environment has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study, said Information Officer Thapa. According to him, the transmission line will be extended from Hattikhal to the 132 KV transmission line of Kohalpur-Surkhet. For this, about 800 trees in the Bardiya National Park will have to be cut, said Information Officer Thapa.

For which, a 1.7-kilometer transmission line will be constructed. Out of the 9 towers, 3 towers will be constructed in the main area of ​​the park and 6 towers in the intermediate area, he informed. ‘The jurisdiction of the transmission line will be 9/9 meters on the right and left sides,’ he said, ‘Other construction work will begin after the EIA work is completed.’

The project, which was supposed to start in the fiscal year 2068/69, was started only in 2071/072. The deadline for the project has been extended until the fiscal year 2087/88. However, the work has slowed down due to the shortage of technicians and workers at the construction site, said Bheriganga Municipality Mayor Yagya Prasad Dhakal. ‘The government has also 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 was necessary to work on time.’

The cost of the project, which was initially estimated at 33 billion, is estimated to reach nearly 45 billion as the construction period extends. Currently, about 100 technicians and workers are deployed at the construction site. About 3,500 workers were deployed in the first phase, while up to 300 people were employed during the initial work of the second phase.      

The project, which received a budget of Rs 1.75 billion in the current fiscal year, has spent about Rs 1.20 billion. Project Director Poudel said that the federal government has allocated Rs 2.51 billion for the project in the coming fiscal year. According to him, work is underway on the project with a plan to build a dam on the Bheri River in Chiple, Bheriganga Municipality, Surkhet, and divert Bheri water through a tunnel to the Babai River on the border of Surkhet and Bardiya, and generate about 46 megawatts of electricity.