The installation of an integrated check post in Nepalgunj, in western Nepal, has been delayed by a year, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic’s delays. The project has made 22.2 percent physical progress thus far.
Customs and immigration will be housed under one roof at the integrated checkpoint being developed on the Indo-Nepal border. The infrastructure is intended to make trade between the two countries more efficient.
The two-year project is funded by an Indian government grant of Rs3.20 billion and is part of a programme in which India will construct a series of integrated check points along the border to systematise the movement of cross-border cargo vehicles.
The contractor Indian company, Rajdeep Buildcon, has been given extra time until January 22, 2023 to complete the facility. Bijay Keshar Khanal, engineer at the division office of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction in Nepalgunj, said the contractor could not carry out the construction work in a full-fledged manner due to the coronavirus.
According to the project, the contractor, Indian firm Rajdeep Buildcon, has been allowed an extension to construct the facility until January 22, 2023.
The contractor was unable to complete the building work in its entirety due to the coronavirus, according to Bijay Keshar Khanal, engineer at the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction’s division office in Nepalgunj.
“As a result of the contractor’s request, we decided to extend the completion deadline,” he stated.
The access road and physical infrastructure are currently under construction.
The project would include the installation of trusses built in Delhi. According to project authorities, shipping the trusses to Nepalgunj will take three to four months.
The Nepalgunj check point will contain warehousing, refrigerated cargo facilities, medical, plant, and animal quarantine sections, and amenities for drivers and passengers for both export and import goods.
The Land Ports Authority of India is constructing the Indian component of the checkpoint in Rupaidiha. Work on the project began in May 2020. To ease bilateral trade, India is reportedly building 13 integrated checkpoints with its neighbours, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
