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Kathmandu Friday March 09, 2001 Falgun 26, 2057.
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Birgunj ICD railway tracks tested
By Gopal Devkota
BIRGUNJ, March 8 - The test visit by an
Indian Railways Wednesday to Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD), despite India’s
continued reluctance to sign the railway operation modality, has raised fresh hopes that
the ICD would become operational soon.
The Railway engine test ran the six tracks
laid down at the ICD and returned back to India. With the completion of the Rs 200-million
5.4-kilometre long broad-gauge railways track from Birgunj to Raxaul, Birgunj now has
direct links with Calcutta and Haldia of India.
The operations of the Birgunj ICD, despite
the completion of all construction works this January, was delayed since Nepal and India
are yet to sign the railway operation modality. The Indian Railways Board, despite
Nepal’s repeated official follow-ups, has so far failed to respond on Railway
Operation Modality draft sent by Nepal more than a year ago.
Director of the Birgunj ICD Project,
Purushottam Ojha, had informed media persons last January that Nepal has officially been
following-up the issue with the Indian government. The delay from the Indian side may be
because of the need to get a green signal from the Indian Railways and the Commerce and
Finance ministries, he had informed.
Even the World Bank, which financed the
construction of Birgunj ICD that cost Rs 730 million out of the estimated 770 million had
shown concern on the issue of railway agreement with the Indian Embassy. However, it had
asserted that it is a bilateral issue and had stressed to resolve it bilaterally.
With the latest visit by Indian railways, the
ice is expected to be broken soon, giving a fresh input to the operation of the project,
which has already delayed by over 10 months. The ICD was earlier expected to be completed
last March, but the goal remained unrealised largely due to the delay in construction
works and construction of broad-gauge railway lines by India.
Once Birgunj ICD, with a capacity to handle
40 thousand containers annually, comes into full operation, transit and transportation
costs for Nepal is expected to go down by as high as 40 per cent. Birgunj ICD is the
largest among all ICDs that the government undertook. The other two ICDs are located in
Biratnagar and Bhairahawa, both of which have already come under full-fledged operation.
The World Bank had decided to finance the
project in December 1997, only after India agreed to cooperate in it and even extended
grant assistance for the construction of board-gauge railways track connecting the ICD to
Raxaul, India. Out of the estimated cost of US$ 28.5 million, US$ 23.5 million is being
financed by IDA, the World Bank and US$ 5 million is being met by Nepal Government.
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