Damauli, June 22

The construction of infrastructure to build the 140 MW Tanahun Hydro Project at Byas Municipality is being accelerated in Tanahun.

Several works are in their final stages, said site in-charge Bidur Adhikari. Bridge construction over the Seti River, setting up camp, black-topping of the road from Chapaghat to Jhaputar and construction of the 300-metre tunnel works have been stepped up.

Similarly, technical and financial study of forms applied for the project’s package No 1 and 2 which were shortlisted from the global tender has started. Global tenders were called in for the construction of a dam site under package 1 and construction of power house under package 2. “The technical and financial assessment will be completed within two months,” said Adhikari.

However, the project is yet to issue the tender for the construction of transmission line under package 3. The estimated budget for the construction of the project is 50 billion rupees. The Government of Nepal will invest 13 billion rupees, while JICA will invest Rs 4 billion, Asian Development Bank Rs 15 billion and European Investment Bank Rs 4 billion for the project.

According to Adhikari, the project is all set to begin its construction from November this year and it is expected to be completed by the stipulated year 2022.

The hydro electricity generated from the project will be distributed through the national transmission line in Bharatpur Sub-station, 36 km from the project site.