Miscellaneous
ICP on Nepali side ‘will be ready’ by December
The construction of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Nepali side—at Alau in Birgunj—will be completed by December, an Indian consultant company handling the project has said.Shankar Acharya
The construction of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Nepali side—at Alau in Birgunj—will be completed by December, an Indian consultant company handling the project has said.
An official of the consultant company said the Indian government has pressurised them to complete the construction within December. He said that the construction works were affected due to lack of construction materials for the last three months.
According to the company, around 90 percent of works on the project have been completed. The construction of the ICP will ease import and export of goods from Nepal, India and other countries.
The ICP on the Indian-side was constructed four months ago. The Indian authorities have opened a road that connects Patna to Birgunj. They have assured that the ICPs on both sides of the border could be operated soon, without hassles, once the construction of the ICP on the Nepali side
gets over.
Chairman of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Pradeep Kumar Kediya expects the operation of ICPs will ease traffic jams at the Birgunj-Raxaul border point.
Nepal and India signed an accord in 2005 to build a string of ICPs straddling the border at Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. India has spent around IRs 860 million for the construction of the infrastructure in Birgunj. The ICP consists of 22 buildings, including road, yard and compound wall, among other infrastructure.
The construction of ICP on the Nepali side was supposed to be completed in October 2013. But running behind schedule, only 40 percent of construction works was
completed at the time. The Indian government later extended the deadline to March 31, 2015. Having missed it too, the contractors extended it for the second time.