Kathmandu, January 17

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today laid the foundation stone of the planned dry port at Chobhar paving the way for the construction of the much awaited dry port in Kathmandu.

Laying the foundation stone of the dry port, Oli said, “Chobhar dry port will prove to be a milestone in connecting Nepal, especially Kathmandu to the international trade network.” Furthermore, Prime Minister Oli said that the dry port will also help ease and enhance the country’s exports.

Planned to be completed within the next one-and-a-half years, the Chobhar dry port will facilitate in handling goods that enter or exit Kathmandu.

However, the prime minister laid the foundation stone of the Chobhar dry port amid protest from local people against construction of the port in the area.

The government had earlier awarded the construction contract of the Chobhar dry port to Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB).

The World Bank Group has provided assistance worth $22 million for the dry port that will be developed over 200 ropanis of land in Chobhar, situated on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

However, the World Bank had almost dropped the project due to the delay in land ownership transfer of Himal Cement. The land ownership transfer process had taken almost three-and-a-half years.

Along with the dry port, the NITDB also plans to construct an International Exhibition Venue (IEV) in Chobhar.

As per NITDB officials, the dry port at Chobhar will be equipped with warehouses, parking lot, litigation shed, administrative buildings for customs, quarantine, bank and other required facilities for customs clearance. Similarly, the office of the NITDB will also be built there.

Along with this, the Chobhar dry port will have the capacity to accommodate 626 containers of 20-foot each, parking facility for 205 trucks, loading and unloading facilities, and six warehouses.

The depot has been designed to cope with traffic flow till 2039, based on the current import and export trend.