KATHMANDU, NOV 07 -The Railway Department plans to start conducting a detailed project report (DPR) of the western sections of the proposed Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway by the end of this fiscal year. It said it would invite requests for proposal (RFP) to do the survey within two weeks.
The department said it would ask short-listed firms to submit RFPs for the Butwal-Lamahi (115 km) and Lamahi-Kohalpur (102 km) sections among the four sections in the western Butwal-Gaddachowki sector. As per the government’s plan, RFPs for all four sections (420 km) should have been invited six months ago. However, inadequate personnel and procedural delays held up the plan, said the department. “We do not have enough manpower which led to delays,” said Rajeshwor Man Singh, superintendent engineer of the department. He added that they would select consultants for the Kohalpur-Sukhkhad and Sukhkhad-Gaddachowki sections within this year.
After the government issues the RFP notice, it will take at least four months to evaluate the proposals received and select a consultant. The DPR of the Butwal-Gaddachowki sector, estimated to cost Rs 1.20 billion, will include a 14-km rail link connecting Kohalpur with Nepalgunj, as per the department. The Butwal-Gaddachowki section is the fourth section after the Bardibas-Simara, Simara-Tamsaria and Tamsaria-Butwal-Bhairahawa sections for which the government is starting the DPR.
About seven months ago, the department had short listed four eligible consultants for each package in the Butwal-Gaddachowki sector. Eight consortiums of around two dozen companies from South Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, India and Nepal have been short listed for the DPR. The DPR will include a detailed design of the railway routes, the infrastructure required alongside the track, cost estimate and bid documents for construction.
Dohwa Engineering (South Korea), ILF Consulting (Austria), Rites Limited (India), Italfeer SpA (Italy), Gauff Rail Engineering (Germany), SENER Ingeneria y Sistemas SA (Spain) and Full Bright Consultancy (Nepal) are among the firms that have applied to conduct the DPR of the Butwal-Gaddachowki section.
The DPR of the first section Bardibas-Simara and its link route Simara-Birgunj was completed by a South Korean consultant.
As per the report, the construction of the Bardibas-Simara section including the link route would cost up to Rs 99 billion depending on the facilities, safety measures, quality and level of service included in the project.
As per the government’s plan to start building the Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway this year, the department will soon be awarding the contract to lay the track bed on the 5-km Simara-Bardibas section. The track bed is the foundation on which the train track will be laid.
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