Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Maeda Toru handed over the reconstructed structures to Sarita Dawadi, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of the Government of Nepal.
The Japanese government has reconstructed some of the structures of the dilapidated Chandra Canal, the country's first irrigation system, and handed them over to the Nepalese government.
The handover was made to Sarita Dawadi, Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of the Government of Nepal, during a program organized at Bhagani Maleth in Saptakoshi Municipality-10, Saptari on Wednesday.
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Maeda Toru handed over the reconstructed structures. The reconstruction was carried out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with Hazma Endo Corporation and NTC International Japan.
The 28-kilometer-long Chandra Canal, which came into operation in 1985, had been irrigating a total of 10,500 hectares of land. However, as the canal deteriorated, it was becoming difficult to irrigate only 50/60 percent of the 'command area'. Now that JICA has reconstructed it, it will help to some extent, said Birendra Yadav, Chief of the Koshi Pump and Chandra Canal Irrigation Management Office, Rajbiraj.
‘The Japanese government has carried out reconstruction work in Chandranahar under the East Terai Rehabilitation Irrigation Project,’ he said, ‘32 structures including eight under-canal passes, nine cross-exits and 15 canal crossing bridges have been constructed.’
The project, which was implemented by the Japanese government with an investment of 2.256 billion Japanese yen (2.51 billion Nepalese rupees), also involved the deployment of technicians and technology from Japan.
