Birgunj, December 20

Works to lay pipeline along only 12.2 kilometres of the total 36.2 kilometres of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline project remain at present. Laying pipeline for petroleum product supply covering 24 kilometres on Nepal side has been over under the mega project prioritised by the governments of both Nepal and India, said Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline project office, Simara.

“Work on the project is expediting. Petroleum products will be supplied to Nepal through the Patna route in India within three months if work continues at this rate without any interruption,” said the office’s engineer Sharad Prasad Paudyal.

Pipe installation along Rajat Jayanti Chowk of Birgunj, Gandak Chowk Bypass area and 468 metres in Gandak area is over, while laying pipe along nine kilometres within Parsa National Park is yet to be completed.

Likewise, laying pipeline along 33.7 kilometres from Motihari to Raxaul in India has been completed. Pipe installation in the remaining areas will be completed soon if work continues uninterrupted, as per Indian Oil Corporation, Raxaul.

The Indian government has invested INR 3.5 billion to instal the pipeline for the project from Motihari of India to Amlekhgunj of Bara. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly laid the foundation stone for the project from Hyderabad House of New Delhi during PM Oli’s visit to India eight months ago.