Money
Govt seeks contractor for access road works
The government has initiated the process to construct the access road to connect Nepalgunj city with the construction site of the dry port being developed at the customs point.Thakur Singh Tharu
The government has initiated the process to construct the access road to connect Nepalgunj city with the construction site of the dry port being developed at the customs point. The Nepalgunj office of Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) has initiated public procurement to appoint a contractor for the construction of the access road.
While Nepal government will build 2.7-km long access road that will connect Chaulika, Nepalgunj with construction site of the dry port, the Indian side will develop the remaining infrastructure. The government had allocated Rs4 million in the current fiscal year for the construction of the access road.
Hom Nath Bhusal, engineer at divisional office of DUDBC in Nepalgunj said the work has been initiated for the construction of the access road. “We will construct the access road while rest of the infrastructure will be developed by the Indian government,” Bhusal said. “After the access road is constructed, the dry port will be connected with the four-lane highway in Nepalgunj.”
Along with the dry port, the integrated check post (ICP) will be built at the dry port. After the dry port is constructed, the custom point will be modernized with railway service connecting the port. Indian government has already appointed contractor to build the ICP.
The Indian officials have said the construction will be completed within two years.
Nepal government has also completed the compensation process with land owners and acquired the 90 bigahas of land neccessary for the ICP. The contractor has already started building walls and fences.
Although Nepal and India reached an agreement in 2005 to build ICPs across the border at Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj, only one has been constructed so far in Birgunj-Raxaul. Construction of ICP in Nepalgunj-Rupedia would facilitate cross-border movement as well as screening, import and export of commodities and vehicles.
When the ICP comes online, many buildings will be located under a single roof and offer a range of services to remove the hassle of going to various posts for customs and immigration clearance related paperwork. The ICP will feature buildings for a warehouse, parking yard, office building, security yard, litigation shed, quarantine and check post. Currently, most border points between Nepal and India have customs related offices located at different locations.
This results in traders facing difficulties in getting the necessary paperwork in a timely manner.
As the Nepalgunj border point is the shortest distance from Delhi, the capital city of India, a proposal has been made by the authorities of both governments to construct a four-lane highway and four-gauge railway line on the Indian side.
Traders on both sides of the Nepalgunj border believe that various goods could be imported and exported at a lower price due to reduced transportation costs once ICP is set up. Nepali traders expect that it would be easy to export herbs and other produce to Indian markets. Residents in Nepalgunj expect that construction of ICP would bolster economic activities and employment opportunities in the area.