SHARE PRICES SLIP Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Political uncertainty created over controversial appointment of an election government headed by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi brought down stock prices on the first day of weekly five-day trading Sunday. Nepse closed at 538.51 points after losing 5.58 points. Altogether 230,170 shares were traded for Rs.77.683 million on 1030 transactions. nnnn TINNEL WORK PROGRESS ON UPPER TAMAKPOSHI Kathmandu, 24 Feb. :In an encouraging progress, 50 percent of the tunnel construction work on the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project has (UTHP) has been completed on Time, Rajendra Manandhar writes in The Kathmandu Post from Dolakha.. Normally, tunnel construction is considered as the most difficult work on hydropower projects. Of the 16km tunnel to be built, construction of the 8km section was completed on Friday, indicating that the 456MW project developed under domestic investment is on track for timely completion. “If the momentum continues and things go as planned, we see the project complete by mid-April 2016,” said Bigyan Prasad Sharma, acting project chief. In a bid to speed-up construction work, the workforce deployed at site offices, including in Charikot, were transferred to the main site in Lamabagar VDC, Dolkha, 10 months ago. Adoption of provisions like the “digital daily entry system” and punishment and reward to workers also contributed to the timely completion of the tunnel work, the project said. Project officials said the project work, which was earlier estimated to get delayed by around one and half years, made a significant progress due to “effective management practice”. After the project implemented the allowance and electronic attendance systems, around 75 percent of the workers and almost all of the staff members of the Chinese contractor Sino Hydro started to report to work in time. “Before the implementation of the systems, it was difficult to know who is working where,” said a project employee. “There were chances of cheating from dishonest employees.” Site Engineer Bimal Gurung said efficiency of 80 percent of the workers has increased. “We have been able to complete construction of 8,002m section of the 15,960m tunnel,” he said. Tamakoshi hydropower project is the country’s biggest under-construction project and its capacity is two-third of the total energy presently being generated in the country. The run-of-the-river type project will run daily for four hours in full capacity even during the dry season. “It will play a big role in solving the power shortage problem,” said Gurung. According to the project, 48 percent of the civil construction work and 41 percent of the total construction work has so far been completed. Sino Hydro holds the contract for civil construction and employs 400 Chinese and 1,200 Nepali workers. Project chief Shrestha said they aim to complete 50 percent of the total work by end of this fiscal year. To achieve the target, the project is mulling continuing the work even during public holidays, including Dashain and Tihar holidays. Progress on tunnel work Section Total length Progrss Main tunnel 7,846m 2,569m Tailrace tunnel 2,986m 1,349m Audit tunnels 1,475m 1,475m Tunnels inside powerhouse 3,003m 2,609m Other small tunnels 650m not started Total 15,960m 8,002m Nnnn WORK ON KATHMANDU-HETAUDA TUNNEL IN ONE MONTH Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: The Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management has said it will sign the final agreement with the Nepal Purbadhar Bikas Company (NPBC) within a month to develop the Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Highway, The Himalayan Times writes. Tulasi Prasad Situala, secretary at the ministry, said before signing the final agreement, the government will have to settle pending issues like how long the company be allowed to operate the road , tax facilities to be provided and the alignment of the road that is said to have overlapped with the proposed Kathmandu-Tarai Fast-Track road . “We will soon send a proposal with measures to solve these issues to the Cabinet for its approval,” said Sitaula. NPBC, established to undertake the tunnel highway project, had planned to start the construction by mid-February. But the delay in the signing of the final agreement has delayed the construction. The ministry had sought more time for the contract signing, citing the lack of investment commitments and overlapping of some of the road alignments with the proposed Fast Track road . “We have received the commitment for investment and the proposal for changing the alignment to avoid overlapping,” said Situala, adding they would study the proposed alignment and forward the proposal to the Cabinet for approval to sign the final agreement within a month. The company’s that it be allowed to operate the tunnel highway for up to 35 years, VAT and tax holiday and the alignment issues have made it necessary to seek the Cabinet’s approval, according to the Physical Planning Ministry. The existing build-operate-transfer (BOT) law allows companies to build and operate such infrastructure and handover the ownership to the government after 30 years. Kush Kumar Joshi, chairman of NPBC, said they proposed to operate the road for 35 years to make the project more attractive and increase the payback period as the project is the first big infrastructure project being undertaken involving locals. “We find it necessary to have 35 years of operation period as the first four years will go for construction,” he said. After the Physical Planning Ministry asked to show investment sources, the company has submitted a report in which a dozen commercial banks have shown commitments to invest in the 51km highway which is estimated to cost Rs 23 billion. “So far, around 20 commercial banks have showed interest to invest in the project,” said Lal Krishna KC, vice-chairman of the company. “We have also provided options to the government to take the tunnel highway along the Bagmati River eliminating the confusion over the alignment overlapping.” The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Transport Entrepreneurs’ Federation, Hotel Association of Nepal, Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal, Non-resident Nepalese Association and Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, among others, have also committed investment in the project. Moreover, over 50,000 locals from 26 VDCs in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Makwanpur districts are investing in the project as shareholders. nnnn