Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Project Achieves 37 Percent Progress in Seven Years

Construction of the Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project, envisioned as a sustainable solution to irrigation, drinking water, and energy production problems in the Terai-Madhes region, has seen sluggish progress.

Despite seven years since the signing of the construction agreement, the national pride project has achieved less than 37 percent progress. According to project officials, the physical progress currently stands at 36.83 percent.

Read: Parliamentary Committee Flags Dismal Progress of Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project

The project, which starts from the Sunkoshi River at Dungrebans (Khurkot) in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-8, Sindhuli, is scheduled to be completed within 10 years—from FY 2019/20 to FY 2028/29—under the agreement between the government and the contractor. However, delays in the second phase of construction have raised doubts about timely completion of the project.

Although 13.316 km of the tunnel has been completed, other physical infrastructure and hydropower components have seen limited progress.

On Saturday, Madhes Province Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh, Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Saroj Kumar Yadav, and Minister for Energy, Irrigation and Drinking Water Shesh Narayan Yadav, along with other officials, inspected the project site. The team visited the tunnel’s starting point at Dungrebans (Khurkot) and the endpoint at Kusumtar in Kamalamai Municipality-2 to assess the implementation status.

Senior Divisional Engineer Ashok Raj Gautam informed the team that the second phase of construction, undertaken by Patel-Raman JV Pvt. Ltd., began on January 25, 2023, but has achieved only 10.13 percent progress so far. As per the contract, this phase must be completed by July 9, 2027.

The first phase of the project was completed by China Overseas Engineering Group under which the tunnel of the project achieved a breakthrough on May 8, 2024.

Read: Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Project Achieves Breakthrough of Tunnel

Chief Minister Singh expressed concern over the delays, saying it was unfortunate for such an important project to progress at a snail’s pace when the Madhes region faces an acute water shortage. He added that the provincial government would formally report the matter to the federal government.

The project, being built at a cost of Rs 49.42 billion, aims to provide year-round irrigation to 122,000 hectares (183,000 bighas) of land in Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, and Dhanusha districts of Madhes Province. It is also expected to generate 31.07 MW of hydropower.

Upon completion, the project is estimated to generate annual revenues of Rs 10.3 billion from agriculture and Rs 1.55 billion from electricity generation. Of the allocated Rs 19.33 billion budget so far, Rs 16.5 billion has already been spent.

Although some progress was achieved in the initial phase, Gautam admitted that work under the second contract package has been moving extremely slowly, prompting the need for stronger coordination to expedite the pace. -- RSS