BY OUR CORRESPONDENT Charikot, Nov. 25:Construction of the man-made Jiri Lake, initiated two years ago, which is also one of the pride projects of the Bagmati Province Government, is currently facing uncertainty.
The Dolakha Division Irrigation Office completed the study of the land required for the lake construction.
Sharad Dangal, administrative officer at the Dolakha Division Irrigation Office, said that approximately 700 ropanis of land should be acquired to construct the lake. The office had sent the agenda and zoning report to the Bagmati Province Ministry of Water Supply, Energy and Irrigation, and later the ministry sent the report to the Provincial Forest Ministry of Bagmati Province.
Later, the Forest Ministry requested the consultant through the Dolakha Division Irrigation Office to revise the report. After revising the report, the Dolakha Division Irrigation Office resubmitted it to the Bagmati Province Ministry of Water Supply, Energy and Irrigation.
Rupesh Mahat, division head of the Dolakha Division Irrigation Office, said that the report was then sent to the Ministry of Water Supply,
Energy and Irrigation of the federal government through the Office of the Chief Minister. The construction work is expected to proceed after the report is approved by the Council of Ministers.
The division office informed that for the construction of a 1-kilometre-long and 200-meter-wide lake, 151 plots within the inundation area and 339 plots near the lake needed to be acquired. The lake would be constructed in a shape similar to Nainital in India. As of the Detailed Project Report (DPR), the estimated construction cost of the lake is Rs. 3.17 billion.
The lake is expected to promote tourism in Jiri, a famous tourist city in Dolakha, also known as the gateway to Sagarmatha, and the Switzerland of Nepal. Bikash Karki, a local, said that the locals were ready to support the lake’s construction and were expecting the work to begin soon.
In the last fiscal year, the Bagmati Province government allocated Rs. 150 million to initiate the construction work. Similarly, the provincial government allocated Rs. 30 million in the current fiscal year.TRN Online
