May 24: The government has called for a tender bid to complete with the construction of the Siddhababa tunnel along the Butwal-Palpa section of the Siddhartha Highway. The tunnel construction has been under discussion for the past eight years. The Department of Roads called for a global tender on Saturday (May 22), with a target to complete the construction within five years. Domestic and foreign construction companies shall be able to submit proposals for the construction of the project within the next 45 days since the issuance of the tender.
The plan to build the tunnel was announced in the policies and programmes of the government for the Fiscal Year 2075/76. At that time, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had formulated a five-year strategy to complete the tunnel. The department has invited tenders to build the tunnel after three years of the announcement. Generally, tunnels are made to reduce the distance of roads/highways. However, this road section is being constructed with the objective of preventing loss of life and property due to landslides rather than reducing the distance, said an official of the department.
The head of the quality research and development center of the department, Dr Vijay Jaisi informed that the Swiss Development Corporation had already given the preliminary design and report to the department two years ago and the department has issued the tender for the tunnel on the same basis.
“The construction company should build the tunnel and hand it over to Nepal within five years,” he said, adding, "Since the contract is in the EPC model, it is almost certain that the tunnel will be completed on time. If the company extends the project for any reason, it will not get additional amount as per the price hike. The company will have to use the budget out of their own pockets." However, he added that if there occurs any natural disasters, the duration and cost of the project will have to be extended.
"As the new design and investment will be determined based on the initial design of the department, the immediate investment has not been assessed," said Jaisi. He said that the finance ministry has set a limit of Rs 10.15 billion and the amount of investment required will be decided only after the construction companies submit their bids. The construction company will be selected after three months and the selected company will have to submit the design to the department within the next nine months.
The distance of the tunnel will be 1 km 126 meters.
Similarly, rock fall technology will be used in the project to prevent the fall of rocks since the area is highly prone to rock falls. There is no alternative to the tunnel to prevent loss of life and property as those traveling through the section are at high risk due to landslides and rock falls triggered by landslides. Although many projects that are under-construction fail to complete the work on time, the tunnel will be completed within the stipulated time, claimed the Department of Roads.
For the first time, the government has approved the 'Directive on Procurement through EPC-2078' and the department has also called for contracts from the same model. “As the construction company keeps looking for variations and showing problems, now it has come up with the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) model,” said Jaisi. "In such a case, if the tunnel is not constructed within five years, they will not get any additional amount. The company will have to bear the additional cost and they will be compelled to complete the project on time," he added.
