Work of laying petroleum pipeline completes, ready for operation
By Birendra Karna
KATHMANDU, June 17: The work of laying petroleum pipeline underground from Motihari of India to Amlekhgunj of Bara on Nepalese side has completed.
The first cross-border pipeline in South Asia, was in high priority of both Nepal and India. This pipeline is considered the fuel lifeline of Nepal.
The project office Simara has stated the project would be brought into operation after conducting a technical test in the immediate future with the work of laying down fuel pipeline on the 70.2 kilometers distance from Motihari to Amlekhgunj having been fully completed.
Petroleum Pipeline Extension Project Simara’s engineer Sharad Poudel said that works related to hydro-test, radiography of pipes joined by welding, taking X-ray at the points where the pipes have been joined and removing the rust in the pipe through scan-plast have started with the completion of the pipeline laying works.
Assistant conservation officer of Parsa National Park, Ashok Kumar Ram said Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has provided Rs 13 million 967 thousand 52 as compensation for the trees inside the park which were chopped for the pipeline project.
This amount would be used for planting 147 thousand 200 new plants in five years, Ram added.
The work of laying petroleum pipe on 32.65 kilometers from Motihri to Raxaul on the Indian side had already been completed nearly a month ago.
The task of laying pipes on 37.25 kilometers from Raxaul to Amlekhgunj of Bara on the Nepal side has also been over.
A technical team including engineer for Nepal Oil Corporation is reported to have headed to Lucknow for training on hydro-test and other technical works.
The agreement to lay the pipeline was struck between Nepal and India on August 24, 2015.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during PM Oli’s India visit jointly laid the foundation stone for the Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipeline, from Hyderabad House of New Delhi.
The 70.2 kilometers pipeline project’s estimated cost is Rs 2.75 billion from the Indian government and the federal government of Nepal (Rs 2 billion from the Indian government, and Rs 750 million from Nepal government).