Pardafas Reporter
Foreign Minister of Nepal Dr. Narayan Khadka, who was on a visit to China returned to Nepal on Thursday. Minister Khadka headed China on Tuesday night at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
On Wednesday, both ministers along with delegates discussed the stalled projects in Nepal which are under the responsibility of China.
After Wang Yi's visit to Nepal in 2078, it was believed that various projects that Nepal and China wanted to advance with joint efforts would go ahead. However, there was no concrete progress in this regard in 4 months.
On Wednesday in Qingdao, China, both ministers of Nepal and China along with delegates did bilateral talks on many topics. It is expected that after the visit of the foreign minister to China, all the stalled projects in Nepal will move ahead in the progress. However, it is yet to see whether the visit of foreign minister Khadka to China becomes meaningful or not.
For about 2.5 years, China has stepped back from its work to be done in the projects in Nepal that it has taken responsibility for. Apart from petroleum exploration projects being carried out in Dailekh, all the other projects taken by China are still in the same condition as before the epidemic started.
Many development projects in Nepal which are under the responsibility of China have been stalled. It is also due to poor preparation and diplomatic initiatives of the Nepalese government. After the start of the covid-19 pandemic, China stepped back from the project in Nepal, that it had promised to complete.
Projects such as the Kathmandu-Keung interstate railway, transmission line, Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road expansion, and Kathmandu ring road expansion are at a standstill.
Similarly, other projects to be carried out under the 'Belt Road Initiative (BRI) are also in limbo. Projects such as Koshi-Gandaki-Karnali Corridor, Madan Bhandari Technical College, Tamor Hydroelectricity Project, Kimathanka-Hile Road, Phukot Hydroelectric Project, and Dipayal-China Road have not been decided yet by bilateral consent on whether to proceed with construction. The government of Nepal also does not want to advance the BRI project by taking a loan from China. Nepal is wishing to head up more projects with grants. However, China is not yet ready for that.
At present, work is going on to build a dry port in Rasuwa by China, but the work is going on very slowly. Many contractors and workers left the job without notice.
A former foreign secretary says that after the pandemic, China gave more priority in controlling the pandemic. He also said that even the Nepalese government had not taken enough diplomatic initiatives to implement the project that China has taken over.
Moreover, he also said that China is unable to trust the Nepal government's working style and efficiency in the implementation of the project that China is making with the grant.
Kathmandu-Kerung Interstate Railway
Many projects that have been agreed to be carried out by China are now stalled. The famous Kathmandu-Kerung inland railway is one of them. China has said that it will take a long time to complete the detailed study of this project. According to the preliminary study report of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway handed over by China, a detailed study should have been completed by now. The Chinese government had informed that it will take another 42 months to complete the detailed study as the agreement with Nepal could not be implemented due to the epidemic. According to a source in the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, China said that it needs more time to complete the study as the current situation is not favorable and a study is needed on the complex geography.
The Nepal government left the task of preparing the detailed project report (DPR) of this railway to the Chinese government two years ago. However, the Chinese side has not yet started the field study. Due to the strict policy adopted by the Chinese government to control Corona, the technical team could not come from China.
The dependence of others on DPR has also resulted in delay in work which may be at their own cost. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport sent a letter last October through the Ministry of External Affairs urging it to conduct a detailed feasibility study of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in September 2008. A meeting of Nepalese and Chinese officials held in Kathmandu in the second week of December 2008 divided the work on the implementation of that understanding. According to that agreement, China should conduct a detailed feasibility study, including geological studies, at its own expense.
As a result, even after reaching an agreement, the Chinese technical team has not returned to Nepal yet. China has not shown much vigor in studying and completing the projects.
But recently after the bilateral talks between the minister of China and the minister of Nepal, China announced the commission of a feasibility study of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway.
Ring Road Extension Uncertain
As China is not showing enough interest, the work of expanding the ring road in Kathmandu has not progressed. Last December, the Chinese technical team visited various places on the ring road and returned after conducting an on-site study, but China has not yet sent a detailed project report (DPR) with the design of the ring road. It is unknown that when the team to work for the expansion will come to Nepal. Last year, the road department had written a letter through the Ministry of Finance asking China to proceed with the expansion of the ring road. However, the Chinese side replied that the construction cannot proceed without the site being cleared. And now after the meeting of Minister Khadka with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, China has assured the Nepali delegation that the construction of the second phase of the Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project will start soon.
Problems also in roads and tunnels
The expansion and upgrading of the Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road, which China has taken over by spending grant aid, is also stalled.
Work on the road, which started in November 2076 and was said to be completed within 3 years, has been stalled for one and a half years.
The Director General of the Road Department, says that the construction of this road section has been stopped since the pandemic started. According to him, it is still not certain when the Chinese side will start working on the project
It is expected that this 16 km long road with two lanes will make the move from the Rasuwagadhi checkpoint a little easier.
At present, as this road section is narrow, it is difficult for vehicles coming from Rasuwagadhi to move. According to the department, the upgradation work is challenging due to the complex geography in some places.
China has also left the work of preparing the DPR for the Tokha-Chahare-Gurjubhanjyang and Betrawati-Rasuwagadhi (Ghattekhola) tunnels stalled. Since the Chinese technicians did not come to Nepal after the pandemic, there is confusion about the further study of this project.
Confusion about transmission lines
The detailed study of the 400 KV Ratomate-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung transmission line connecting China has not yet progressed. The Nepal Electricity Authority has almost completed the extensive feasibility of the transmission line connecting China to Nepal.
The authority is currently studying the engineering design for the construction of the transmission line from Ratomate to Rasuwagadhi. According to the project, the study work to build a transmission line from Ratomate to Dhunche and from Dhunche to Rasuwagadhi has reached its final stage.
It has been 5 years since this transmission line came into the limelight. When Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visited China, an agreement was reached with China to build an international transmission line. But when China said that a high-capacity international transmission line cannot be built with a full subsidy, the study process was also delayed for a long time. However, the authority is about to complete a detailed study two years after starting work by loosening knots in the modality of the study.
Nepal is in favor of not delaying the construction of an important international transmission line that will open the door to the electrical trade. Since about 500 km of the line has to be built in the part towards China, it has been said to connect this project with the railway.
Project officials say that after the construction of this transmission line, electricity trade can start between Nepal and China, while China can also buy/sell electricity with Nepal and other South Asian countries.
