The Narayani River embankment project is hampered by a lack of funding

The building of an embankment to shield the people of Chitwan and Nawalparasi East from erosion and flooding brought on by the Narayani River‘s monsoon floods has been hampered by financial constraints. The Narayani River Management Project’s chief, Manohar Kumar Sah, stated that the embankment construction contractors are not happy because they did not receive payment for the work completed during the current fiscal year, which had a significant negative impact on the project’s progress.

Building of a 35-kilometer embankment on the Chitwan side and a 57-kilometer embankment on the Nawalparasi side is in progress in order to control floods in the Narayani River, a significant river system in the nation. In addition to the embankments in the Narayani River that lead to the areas of Nawalparasi and Bharatpur in Chitwan, work on embankments is also ongoing in the Kayar and Riu streams. Currently, work is being done on the first phase of a 31-kilometer embankment in Chitwan and Nawalparasi, according to Sah. “The contractors are not happy that they haven’t received payment for the $424 million worth of work they have finished so far this fiscal year. Even though the Bharatpur side contractors gave the office the required bill vouchers, they have not received the Rs375.6 million. We have submitted a request for funding in a file to the Finance Ministry. We anticipate receiving the money shortly.

First-phase settlements vulnerable to flooding are given priority; as part of this, an embankment measuring 20.5 km is currently being built towards the Bharatpur side and 10.5 km towards the Nawalparasi side. Five sections are being made in the direction of Bharatpur, according to Sah; four of these sections should be finished by December 30, 2024, and one section by the end of the following fiscal year. Approximately 41% of the work has been completed in all five sections combined as a result of the payment issue, according to Sah.

The 5.6-kilometer Sisai, Bhagadi, and Baluwa sections in Bharatpur’s wards 26 and 27 have received the least amount of work. On June 23, 2022, a contract for the Rs 370 million embankment construction on the 5.6-kilometer section was signed with Sharma Construction Company as well as Sagun Construction Company. Although only 8% of the construction, or Rs31.5 crore, has been finished thus far, the agreement states that the construction should be finished by June 23, 2024.

“Because the government has not released funds for the work we have already completed, we are unable to proceed with the construction of embankments. Not even the project manager knows when the budget will be made public. “I have to pay my laborers after work, and how am I going to get them to work if I don’t have money?” Sagun Construction Company representative asked Nahakul Khadka. “The lack of stones large enough to measure 50 centimeters also had an impact on the embankment’s construction. We recently received the stones, and we are getting ready to move them and speed up construction, but we are unsure of the contractors’ payment schedule.

Khadka continued, “We have to deal with some challenges in obtaining permission to work because the area we are building falls under the buffer zone area of Chitwan National Park. The Bharatpur Metropolis mayor, Renu Dahal, who visited on Sunday to oversee the construction site and conduct an inspection, promised to assist in obtaining park authorities’ approval so that we could begin work. Merely 20% progress has been made towards the Nawalparasi side, despite 41% progress being made towards the Chitwan side.

One of Nepal’s largest rivers, the Narayani, causes erosion and flooding in the Bharatpur Metropolitan City’s Ramghat, Gunjanagar, Shivghat, Mangalpur, Dibyanagar, and Meghauli settlements. In a similar vein, the issues of erosion and flooding also affect the lower regions of the settlements of Mukundpur, Naya Belhani, Rajhar, Pitholi, Narayani, Prasauni, and Kolhuwa in the municipalities of Gaindakot and Kawasoti in Nawalparasi. The “People’s Embankment” Program was launched in the 2009–2010 fiscal year in order to prevent issues brought on by the Narayani River in this region. A master plan to build 97 kilometers of embankments on both sides for Rs 10 billion was in place at the time, but only about 17 kilometers of embankments totaling Rs 760 million were completed. The Narayani River Management Project was initiated during the 2020–2021 fiscal year to undertake the outstanding tasks.

“The Ministry of Finance has provided a budget of Rs4.72 billion for the first phase of work; however, because of the economic downturn, the budget has not been received on time as requested in previous years, resulting in the non-payment of Rs375.6 million. According to Sah, the first phase’s work ought to be finished in the 2025–2026 fiscal year. One of the contractors, Kumar Acharya, who has embanked almost nine kilometers from Gajipur to Hirapur and from Bahraghare to Kabreghat, says he is carrying on with the work in the hopes of receiving payment shortly. Out of the three contractors, Acharya is the only one whose work is widely appreciated.

“According to the bill voucher that was received by the project office, the contractors have not been paid a sum of Rs370 million by the office. However, I have completed work valued at nearly Rs500 million, and I have forwarded some of my invoices to the office due to their financial difficulties,” explained Acharya. The embankment, which can also serve as a road, will measure nine meters in height and six meters in width. 35,000 bighas of arable land will be protected from erosion and flooding if the embankment is finished. 65 bighas of river-eroded land in Hirapur can be used after the embankment.

In Hirapur, an embankment has been constructed approximately 1.5 kilometers away from the bank where the river has eroded, according to project officials. 197,996 people from 45,785 households in various settlements in Chitwan and Nawalparasi have benefited from the embankment. Following her first term election, Mayor Dahal stated that she had created a thorough embankment plan after witnessing the July 2017 floods in the Narayani and Rapti areas. “Work on the embankment is going well,” Dahal said, “despite the budget’s delay.”

However, because of the postponed embankment construction, the locals are concerned about potential flooding. Manju Mahato, of Bhagadi, Bharatpur-26, expressed her concern for the approaching monsoon and said she always lives in fear during the rainy season because, although embankments are being built in other places, the work is not moving toward her village. “I believe we are being overlooked, even though the embankments are being constructed slowly. In my area, the authorities tell us that work will begin soon, but they never specify when. After the embankment is finished, the people in my village will only be able to exhale with relief,” Mahato remarked.

The construction of an embankment up to Hirapur has ceased, according to 55-year-old Shamsher Pariyar of Bharatpur-26, and work on the area defending his fields and house has not advanced. “I owned 25 kattha of land, and during various floods, the Narayani River cut off five kattha of land,” Pariyar remarked. “Whether I can spend the monsoon peacefully at home is a mystery to me.”