By Babu Ram Devkota, Sindhuli, Sept. 29: The process for determining price of the land in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality in Sindhuli District, where the dam of Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project of National Pride will be constructed, has been initiated.

The project has stated that it is in the process for fixing price for land acquisition in Khalte and Sitalpati, which will be affected by the construction of a 12-meter high dam in the Sunkoshi River.

According to the field liaison office of the project, Sindhuli, some 170 plots of land will be submerged in water when the dam is constructed.

Pricing is underway to acquire 10 hectares of land which will be under water when the dam is built, said Vishwa Bandhu KC, senior divisional hydro geologist of the liaison office.

The work of the project has been in full swing since March even during the period of lockdown, he added.

A compensation determination committee has been formed under the coordination of assistant chief district officer for fixing compensation of the land to be acquired, said Yogendra Prasad Pandey, Chief District Officer.

The committee will determine the compensation amount of land to be submerged, he added.

According to the project, eight hectares of land was acquired from 75 locals in Kamalamai Municipality-2, Kusumtar last year to build a powerhouse for power generation.

The 17 families will be displaced in the process of acquiring land in Kusumtar, said the field liaison office.

A total of 13.01 km long tunnel will discharge 67 cusecs per second of Sunkoshi water to Marinkhola in Kamalamai Municipality-2, Kusumtar. There, 28.62 megawatt (MW) electricity will be produced by discharging water from the 66 meter head.

The generated electricity will be connected to the substation at Dhalkebar under the national grid through 37.2 double circuit transmission lines.

During the construction of the project, 900 meters of BP Highway, 1,014 meters of Khurkot-Manthali Road, 1,588 meters of rural road, 1.27 kilometers of power transmission line and two suspension bridges will be inundated.

The government has allocated the budget of 2.46 billion rupees for the Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project in the current fiscal year 2077-78.

The government had allocated Rs 2.5 billion for the project in the last fiscal year.

Preliminary work of the project started last year.

It is reported that the allocated budget for this year will be spent on the tunnel construction and other works.

The multipurpose project has envisioned to not only produce electricity but to provide irrigation facilities in 122 thousand hectors of land in Terai districts of Bara, Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottarai and Sarlahi.

The detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared.

The preliminary technical work that is needed for the implementation of the project is already completed, said Sushil Acharya, Chief of the project.

The project is estimated to cost 46.19 billion rupees in total. An amount of Rs. 30 billion investment is required to build the remaining structures as well.

There is also a plan to fish farming in the reservoir to be constructed from the dam.

According to the project, 90 percent fishermen and 532 households will be affected in the inundated area.