A task force headed by Secretary Lilamani Paudyal at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), after completing its 15 days of field study, concluded that the postal highways on Nepal-India boarder territory would be counter-productive to Nepal. It also suggested the government to abort the project. The task force submitted its report to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Tuesday.
According to the report, the proposed highways along the Nepal-India border would work as a dam for the rivers that flow from Nepal to India. Hence, the Nepali territory on the northern side of the road will run the risk of being inundated, states the report. Thousands of people staying near the Indo-Nepal border in Tarai districts have already been displaced due to floods earlier. “The road will protect the Indian territory in the south while Nepali territory will be inundated,” says the report.
Task force´s recommendations to this effect come at a time when the government is preparing to hand over to the Indian government the construction works of seven of the 20 postal roads. The seven roads have a total length of about 660 km.
The Indian government had pledged to construct postal highways stretching all the way from far eastern district Jhapa to far west Kanchanpur. The total cost for the construction of the highways is estimated at four billion rupees.
The government is also planning to hand over construction of the remaining 10 roads to India by mid-January 2010 and another three roads by mid-February. “We are also busy in assessing environmental impact of the proposed highways,” said a highly placed source at the Ministry of Physical planning and works.
The government had issued public notice inviting those whose lands were acquired for construction of the proposed seven roads to claim for compensation.
Earlier, India had agreed to build the proposed roads in 2006, but construction works could not move ahead as survey and design works took three years. The construction of these roads will be completed in three phases.
The Indian assistance for this project has also been mentioned in the joint communiqué between Nepal and India during the recent visit of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to India. As per the joint declaration, about 660 km roads will be constructed in the first phase within a span of three years. The postal roads will connect the East-West highway and all its subsidiary roads.
Of the 88 bridges to be built, some projects have already been completed while 55 are under construction. As per the agreement, the project has to be completed within the next five years.
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