KATHMANDU: The Embassy of Japan has handed over an excavator valued at about Rs 9.3 million to Tukche Village Ward No. 1, Thasang Rural Municipality in Mustang District.

At the handover ceremony, Yoshiki Sando, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan said that the Embassy of Japan hoped that the excavator would be used effectively for emergencies and temporary counter-measures to control erosion, the embassy here said.

Tukche village is located on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River and the people there have to deal with large volumes of water from snowmelt that erodes the river banks.

The village is prone to erosion and people have lost their fields and have had to relocate because of the inability to tame flood water.

The Embassy of Japan believes that the project can contribute towards land conservation around Tukche, the statement said believing that the assistance will contribute towards further strengthening the bilateral relationship between Japan and Nepal.