Mahendranagar: The Mahakali Irrigation Project — one of Nepal’s national pride projects — has achieved only 27 percent physical progress even after 18 years of its initiation. So far, the government has spent Rs 9 billion on the project.
Started in 2006, the project aims to provide irrigation facilities to 33,520 hectares of land in Kanchanpur and Kailali districts. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 35 billion.
According to officials, the project’s delay is mainly due to budget shortages, land compensation issues, and the slow management of forest areas.
“The project has been delayed because of local dissatisfaction over compensation, land-related problems, and untimely forest management,” said Senior Division Engineer Rajesh Bhakta Pokharel.
A contract worth Rs 1.97 billion has been signed with a construction company for building the 19-kilometre-long main canal up to Malakheti in Kailali. So far, 28.8 kilometres of the canal from Brahmadev to Phuleli in Shuklaphanta Municipality have been completed.
Under the Mahakali Treaty, the Indian side has already constructed 1,200 metres of the main canal from Tanakpur to the Nepal–India border. The Nepali government aims to complete the canal construction up to Malakheti by 2087 BS (within the next five years).
Despite being a high-priority national project, the prolonged delay has caused frustration among locals, who are still waiting for the long-promised irrigation facilities nearly two decades later.
