KATHMANDU, Dec 5: The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW) has selected Chungsuk Engineering Company (CEC) of South Korea to conduct the feasibility study of the proposed Kathmandu Metro, a mass rapid transit (underground and elevated railway) system in the capital.
The firm was selected from among six firms as per the recommendation of a panel that evaluated the financial and technical proposals. [break]
The MoPPW that a couple of days back issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to CEC has called the Korean firm for a draft agreement to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed railway.
The agreement would include date of completion, mode of payment, number of stations, bridges to be covered by the railway line and dispute settlement process, among other things.
The government pushed for a Mass Rapid Transit System in the valley about two years ago in a bid to manage the worsening traffic conditions in the capital.
The Korean firm has already received LoI from the MoPPW - the implementing ministry - to ink an agreement to prepare the Detail Project Report (DPR) for the construction of 136 km long Bardibas-Birgunj section of the proposed Mechi-Mahakali Electrical Railway system.
"Formal signing between MoPPW and CEC has been delayed in absence of Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota who is out of the country. His presence is required to guarantee the payment of contract amount to the company in US dollar," Ram Kumar Lamsal, director general of Railway Department, told Republica on Sunday. The MoPPW has requested an assurance from the Ministry of Finance to pay the consulting firm in dollar. "Agreements will be immediately signed once MoF gives guarantee," said Lamsal.
According to Lamsal, around Rs 400 million (around $5million) will be paid to the firm for completing the DPR of Bardibas-Birgunj section of electrical railway ($4 million) and feasibility study of Kathmandu Metro ($1 million).
Meanwhile, the government is preparing to conduct DPR of 200-km Simara-Butwal section and 450-km Butwal-Mahendra Nagar section of the proposed East-West railway.
"The MoF has already given consent to us to conduct DPR of Simara-Butwal section and we have also proposed the DPR for Butwal-Mahendra Nagar section of the railway," said Lamsal.
The proposed 1,100-odd km east-west railway network was pushed in a bid to narrow down the travel time for long-haul passengers and make their journeys more comfortable.