Bhimduttanagar, December 13: The delay surrounding the distribution of compensation to the landowners whose lands were acquired by the Mahakali Irrigation Project to dig a canal for 15-km main canal has further kept back the project.
Although the tunnel digging process is to be completed within 3 years in three packages since the agreement was signed 22 months ago, the project has not progressed an inch so far due to the compensation issue. The Mahakali Irrigation Project Third Phase Office has not been able to address the compensation issues relating to the lands acquired from the locals where the canal would be dug and constructed. Although other physical infrastructures such as bridges and culvert among others have been built by the contract winning companies, the compensation disputes are yet to be resolved by the Project Office.
The Mahakali Irrigation Project Third Phase Office Director Lok Bahadur Thapa claimed that the compensation was already distributed to the landowners having land ownership certificate. Thapa admitted that the compensation could not be distributed to the landowners who could not produce land ownership certificates. Among the land acquired by the Project, 18 hectares of land was unregistered, according to him.
hapa explained, “Some 18 hectare of the land being used did not have land ownership certificate, causing delay in distribution of compensation.” He said, “We will call a meeting of the compensation fixation committee soon and discuss the issue in participation of the farmers.” Last fiscal year 2018/19, a total of Rs 200 million was allocated for compensation purposes, more than Rs 50 million was frozen later. The locals at Bedkot Municipality where the canal is to be built have been voicing that those using the unregistered land in the area acquired by the Project Office should be provided compensation equally like them.
Locals as well as the construction entrepreneurs, however, blame that the delay in canal construction was on the part of the Project Office itself. One construction entrepreneur, on the condition of anonymity, fumed, “Although 65 percent of the deadline to construct the main canal has been over, only 20 percent of the work relating to it has been completed so far. If the compensation-related issue was addressed by now, 70 percent of the canal construction would be completed by now.” India, under the Indo-Nepal Integrated Mahakali Treaty, has agreed to construct the head regulator of the 1200-meter long and 13.60-meter wide canal from Tanakpur Barrage to Matena, Bhimduttanagar Municipality-9 in Kanchanpur district.
The government of Nepal has already constructed 13-km of canal so far. The total length of the canal to be built under this Project is 151-km and is to be built at the estimated cost of Rs 27 billion. Upon the completion, the canal would irrigate around 33,520-hectare arable lands, stretching from Malakheti in Kailai district and all arable land in Kanchanpur. RS
