By Baburam Devkota, Sindhulimadi, Mar. 4: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be laying the foundation for the construction of the national pride project Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multi-purpose Project today.

According to the field contact office of the project in Sindhuli, all the preparations for the programme have been completed.

Hydrogeologist Bishwa Bandhu KC said that that the construction works of the tunnel from Kusumtar would begin 2-3 months after the foundation stone is laid.

A Chinese Company China Overseas Engineering has received the contract to construct the tunnel for the project.

The construction of the Sunkoshi Marin Project is expected to complete within five years. All the legal compliances such as the acquisition of land and providing compensation to the locals have in the area covered by the project have already completed.

By constructing a dam of 12-meter height in Sunkoshi River, the water of the river will be diverted to the Marin River at Kusumtar via a 13.1-kilometer-long tunnel in 67 cubic seconds.

A total of 28.62-megawatts of electricity will be produced from the project and will be connected to the Dhalkebar sub-station under the national grid.

The main objective of this multi-purpose project is to provide an irrigation facility in 122,000 hectares of land at Bara, Rautahat, Dhanusa, Mahottari and Sarlahi.

The government has allotted a budget of Rs. 2.5 billion for the project.