Work begins at Timure Port

Rasuwagadhi, Rasuwa, May 28

 The construction work at the Timure Dry Port in Timure of Rasuwa district has begun.

Chinese contractor Tibet Fuli Construction Group Company Limited (TFCGCL) is constructing the second dry port at the northern border of the country with facilities like quarantine office, customs office, intermodal transport office, parking yard, cargo warehouse and banks.

It is being built with the technical and financial support from China.

The first dry port at the northern border is built in Larcha, near Tatopani, which came into operation from Tuesday.

The Timure Dry Port will have the capacity to accommodate about 350 trucks and containers but in the initial phase, such facility will be for only about 70 trucks, said Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Nabaraj Dhakal.

"It is an international port so it will have all facilities required to facilitate the cross-border trade. Model of Larcha Dry Port will be replicated in Timure as well," he said.

The developer of the port will complete the port in 30 months and hand it over to Nepal but it will be operated by a private company like other ports in the country. The Nepal Inter-Model Transport Development Board (NITDB) had signed an agreement with the Tibet Fuli earlier this month to construct the trade infrastructure that was on the cards for many years.

The Rs. 1.98 billion project spread in 8.5 hectares of land on the bank of the Bhotekoshi River will have separate entry and exit points. According to Homnath Bhattarai, Officer at the Rasuwa Customs Office, the port will expand along the river bank.

He said that the development of the Dry Port will promote more bilateral trade between the two countries from the Rasuwagadhi border since the current status of the border is pathetic.

While China has completed the construction of required infrastructure at its side in the Rasuwagadhi border, Nepal is yet to build the facilities. Miteri Bridge which is undertaken by the Chinese government is in the last phase of completion, but Nepal has failed to construct the immigration building at its side. The progress is very slow.

China has also agreed to build a two-lane road from Rasuwagadhi to Syaphrubesi within two years. Likewise, the Nepali Army has completed the track opening of the Betrawati-Mailung-Syaphrubesi road. As the Betrawati-Ramche-Dhunche-Syaphrubesi is long, narrow and damaged at multiple locations, containers and trucks are taking the newly opened road which goes along the Trishuli and Bhotekoshi rivers.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 May 2019.