Construction of canal under the Babai irrigation project, one of the national pride projects that aims to irrigate 36,000 hectares of lands in eastern and western belts in Bardiya district, has been intensified lately.

With financial assistances from the UNDP, the project completion target was however the fiscal year, 2074/75 BS.

It failed the target due to various reasons like the flooding in 2071 and 2074 BS and ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic that affected the project, it has been said. Fifteen thousand hectares of lands in the west and 21,000 hectares in the east would be irrigated once the project completes, said the project chief Madhukar Rana.

So far, under the main canal in the east, 34 kilometers canal construction has been completed, he added. According to him, it aims to complete 43 kilometers canal construction by the coming fiscal year 2078/79 BS, he said.

For the construction work, the estimated budget is more than Rs 1.49 billion. The construction completion target is in four to seven months, he said.

The project has entered the evaluation phase after announcing bidding for the construction of dams to save irrigation areas and structures from rivers at six high risky areas in the right side of the Babai River, he said, adding that interactions and discussions were being held with the stakeholders to move forward the process for the irrigation of the lands following the completion of the construction of Bheri Babai diversion.

There has been 70 percent progress on physical construction in the project. Funds worth over Rs 756 million has been spent in the current fiscal year, 2077/78 including funds distributed as compensation for the lands used for the project.

Last year, the project had 61 percent fiscal progress and over Rs 835 million was spent. Funds for the canal construction until the coming fiscal year 2078/79 BS would be over Rs 12.56 billion that has been included in the master plan of the project, according to Rana.