“Digging of three auxiliary tunnels has been completed while construction of the dam and main tunnel has intensified. The project has said that The dam is expected to be finished within the next one to two months,” said Arjun Gurung, the project’s public relations officer.

Meanwhile, the construction of the power house of the 50 MW project has begun at Bhulbhule, 5 km downstream from the dam located at Nangdi.

Work on the project’s 20.5-m high dam began in February. Although building was scheduled to be completed within six months, it was delayed due to bandas and strikes in the district and also by the project’s employees.

The project was slated to be completed by July 2015, but work has not progressed at the expected pace. More than 50 percent of the work remains to be done while the deadline is less than a year away. The project said that completing the project within the date fixed would be a Herculean task. Project officials said that work on the project was held up due to bandas and strikes in the district and by the project staff and a decrease in the number of workers due to the rains.

“We are making all efforts to complete the project on time, but it may be a little delayed due to repeated bandas and strikes and a decrease in the number of workers due to the rainy season,” said the project’s assistant manager Karna Adhikari.

The project has completed the construction of a staff house at Bhulbhule. The promoters’ office is planned to be relocated to the staff house from the rented house where it is currently based before the Dashain festival.

The project has lost 150 work days so far due to strikes, according to the project. It incurs a loss of Rs 6 million per day in the event of a strike, it said. There are 500 Nepali and 200 Chinese workers engaged in the construction of the project.

Chinese company Sinohydro has invested in the project. It has a 90 percent stake in the project while its Nepali joint-venture partner Sagarmatha Hydropower has a 10 percent stake.

The project’s estimated cost is Rs 15 billion.