Surkhet, April 1

Work related to construction of a tunnel of Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Project, a national glory project, is all set to be completed one year before the deadline.

The breakthrough of the tunnel is expected to take place by mid-April itself, contrary to the stipulated deadline for completion by March 2020.

The tunnel based in Surkhet’’s Bheriganga Municipality is being dug by using TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), which has been used for the first time in Nepal.

As per the project source, 11,944 metres of the 12,210 metre long tunnel has been dug in 34 months since the construction work started. “Digging work on the remaining 266 metres of the tunnel will be completed by mid-April,” said project Director Sanjiv Baral.

Chinese company China Overseas Engineering Group Limited is responsible for tunnel construction work that had started in October of 2016.

While the project is expected to produce 48MW electricity, it is also expected to provide irrigation facility to 51,000 hectare land in Banke and Bardia by channeling the water from the Bheri River to Babai.

The expected cost of the project is 33.19 billion rupees.