When will the Sunkoshi Marine Diversion Project be completed?

Kathmandu. Construction of the Sunkoshi-Marine diversion project, which was included in the list of projects of national pride, has started last Magh, describing it as a ‘game changer’ project.

Project Chief Sushil Chandra Acharya informed that the construction of the portal fitting the tunnel boring machine (TBM) required for the construction of the tunnel, construction of the highway and construction of the camp have started.

“Work has already started to move highways, build camps and build portals for TBM,” he told Makalu Khabar. “Even the design team of the construction contractor company has been deployed at the construction site.”

According to him, the work of designing TBM machine is also going on at the same time. He informed that it would take more than a year to connect the machine by making the parts of the TBM machine according to the size of the tunnel. He said that work has been started to complete the construction of portal and highway transfer by the time the TBM machine is constructed.

The project, estimated to cost Rs 46 billion, plans to build a 13-kilometer-long tunnel with a width of 5.5 meters. The required detailed project report (DPR), detailed design of the tunnel, environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been prepared.

According to the old technology, it will take six years to build the tunnel of the project, so the use of TBM will be completed in one year and seven months.

Earlier, for the first time in Nepal, a tunnel was constructed in the Bheri-Babai diversion project using TBM. The same successful technology is being used in this tunnel.

The main structure of the project has acquired 36 bigha in the area of ​​headworks and 13 bigha in the area of ​​powerhouse construction and 49 bigha has been acquired. Even though it is an irrigation project, the project has been promoted as a multi-purpose project as it can generate up to 27 MW of electricity by constructing a powerhouse in the middle of discharging water from the Sunkoshi tunnel into the Marin River.

Irrigation of 122,000 hectares in 5 districts, 27 MW of electricity
The project plans to discharge 67 cumex of Sunkoshi water into the marine and mix it with the Bagmati through the marine. It is planned to irrigate 122,000 hectares of land in 5 districts of State-2 through the Bagmati Irrigation Project. The project plans to generate 27 MW of electricity using the tunnel as a headrace.

The headworks of the project is planned to be constructed 700 meters below the confluence of Sunkoshi and Tamakoshi rivers. Project Chief Acharya informed that after the construction of the dam, the dam site (Khurkot) had to be relocated 3 km due to flooding. He said that the project is considered attractive as only 52 houses and 54 bighas of land will be inundated and displaced from the project.