Kathmandu: The government is working to make the project officials and construction entrepreneurs more responsible to speed up the ongoing development works of the irrigation projects. The government is mulling new interventions in view of dillydallying in the national pride projects relating to the irrigation supplies.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet on Thursday held discussions with the Director General of Irrigation Department and stated that delay in the construction of the irrigation project and their cost extension was not acceptable to the government under any pretext.
The Minister held discussions with the officials and stakeholders as the progress of some of the irrigation projects was very poor despite the government plan to complete the projects and modernize the country’s agriculture sector.
During the discussions, it was stated that some of the projects were delayed due to sheer negligence on the party of the contractors.
The tunnel construction of th
e Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project has advanced in a speedy manner and established a standard in the project development in the country but the progress in its dam and powerhouse development is not as expected.
Likewise, the discussion was focused on the delayed construction of the dam and powerhouse of Bheri Babai Diversion Project despite the tunnel of the project was completed more than two years ago.
On the occasion, progress of different projects was discussed.
In order to expedite the project development, Minister for Irrigation Basnet said that coordination among the government bodies, mobilization of the contractors, enough arrangement of the budget and facilitation at the project sites were the preconditions to bring about result in the project development.
Minister Basnet also instructed the officials to prioritize the projects, best utilize the budget and make needed preparations before implementing the projects.
Source: National News Agency Nepal