The Rasuwa dry port project has moved a step forward with the land acquisition process being started. The facility, planned to be established at Timmure, will be built with Chinese assistance.

“We have completed the land border demarcation of the dry port,” said Hemendra Mohan Shahi, manager of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board. The board, under the Ministry of Commerce and Supply, has been assigned to oversee the project.

Recently, the board had conducted discussions with locals and stakeholders on the issue of land acquisition at District Administration Office.

According to Chirinjivi Thapa, chief district officer of Rasuwa, locals have expressed their commitment to help the government acquire the necessary land. An estimated 250 ropanis of land will be required for the project, said Shahi.

The board and China’s Architectural Reconnaissance and Design Institute had recently signed an agreement to estimate the construction costs and prepare a design of the proposed dry port, which will be named Timmure Frontier Inspection Station.

China has agreed to build the dry port on a turnkey basis and hand it over to Nepal. As per the agreement, the company will prepare designs of an administrative building (500 square metres), an inspection shed (2,080 square metres), a goods shed (750 square metres) and a parking yard with a capacity of 350 trucks at a time, according to the board. The project is expected to be completed within two and half years after construction starts.

As per the agreement, China’s main task will be building the integrated inspection building, accommodation building, cargo warehouse, parking lot and flood protection levee.

In April, Nepal and China had signed an agreement to build the project as part of the northern neighbour’s annual grant. Likewise, China will build a dry port on its side of the border at Pangsing, 7 km from Kyirong. The proposed dry port in China is 29 km from Rasuwagadhi in Nepal.