Normally, when the government has to acquire private land it faces problem of higher compensation amount. And, getting the government owned land for projects is also not easy task for procedural delay and lack of coordination among the agencies concerned such as the Department of Roads (DoR), Department of Forest (DoF), Department of Survey and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservations.
DoR officials in a recent meeting on annual review of projects at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) said that even if it had been two years since they sought the permission of the DoF to cut down the tress and make way for alignment of Seti Highway in section of Tikapur-Achham, they have not been able to do it. The highway links Achham, Bajura District and Bajhang and meet border of China.
Arjun Jung Thapa, deputy director general of the DoR said that the delay in clearing the space for alignment falling in forest areas in eastern Kailai had affected contractors for opening the road track of the Postal Highway. “Alignment dispute and land acquisition have become tough issues when implementing projects and such things ultimately delay projects,” he added.
Despite completion of IEE (Initial Environmental Examination) nearly four years ago, the DoR has also not been able to work on propose alignment of Postal Road in eastern part of Kailali. With acquisition of the government owned land becoming tough task, the road and railway departments recently have suggest that the MoPIT to help solve problems in forest and national park areas devising a mechanism for fast track solution.
There is also problem in a Ghurmi-Chatara section of Mid-Hill Highway as the road has to be opened cutting the trees. Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the MoPIT said that the problem in Seti Highway and Postal Highway had arisen as the projects’ work was pushed in haste without competition the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). He added they had also been coordinating with the Chitwan National Park authority regarding alignment of the East West Electrical Railway.
Alignments of both proposed East West railway and Postal Highway pass through Chitwan National Park. As per the DoR plan, Postal Highway links Chitwan with Nawalpasari via Golghat. However, with this plan affecting the park, the national park authority had suggested the DoR to take the alignment out of the park citing the “biodiversity” reason.
The Railway Department said that it had been facing difficulty in fixing the alignment of Simara-Tamsariya section of the East West railway passing through Chitwan National Park. The department has a plan to carry out the detailed project report (DPR) of this section including other sections.
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