Tuesday, December 23rd, 2025

Sunkoshi Marine Diversion Tunnel nearing completion, breakthrough expected in a month



SINDHULI: The main tunnel of the Sunkoshi Marine Diversion project is on track to achieve a breakthrough within the next month.

Mitra Baral, Project Chief, has reported that only 790 meters remain to be completed out of the 13.3 kilometers of the national pride project’s tunnel.

This multi-billion-rupee multipurpose project aims to provide irrigation facilities to five drought-prone districts in Province No. 2 and generate 31 megawatts of electricity.

Today, a team including Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Sushil Chandra Tiwari, and Director General of Department of Hydropower and Irrigation Chandra Bahadur Oli conducted an on-site inspection at the project site in Kusumtar of Kamalamai municipality, Sindhuli district.

Following the inspection, Minister Basnet assured that there would be no shortage of resources for the project to be completed on time. “This project is of special priority for the government. We ensure that there will be no resource-related hindrances in completing the project,” pledged the Minister.

Expressing satisfaction with the project’s progress thus far, the Minister instructed to finalize the project within the designated timeframe.

Earlier, the team also inspected the dam of the project on Friday, estimated to provide irrigation facilities to 122,000 hectares of land in Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, and Bara districts.

Project Chief Baral stated that barring any geographical complications in excavating the remaining portion of the tunnel, the project is expected to achieve a breakthrough within a month.

The Chinese company, China Overseas Engineering, is responsible for constructing the tunnel, while an Indian company, Patel Engineering, has partnered with Nepal’s Raman Group to build the dam of the project. The project is slated for completion by mid-October 2027.

As part of the project, 67 cubic meters of water per second will be diverted from the Sunkoshi River to the Bagmati River via Marin Khola of Sindhuli district.

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