Mahendranagar. The Mahakali Irrigation Project, initiated 18 years ago with a target to irrigate 33,520 hectares of land in Kanchanpur and Kailali districts, has made 27 percent progress. So far, Rs 9 billion has already been invested in the project.

The project has progressed at a snail’s pace due to lack of budget, distribution of land compensation and management of forest area. Senior Division Engineer of the project, Rajesh Bhakta Pokharel, said that the project progress was slow due to the dissatisfaction of the locals regarding the compensation, the problem of land and the lack of timely management of forest area.

According to Engineer Pokharel, the construction of the 19-km main canal up to Malakheti of Kailali is going on in four phases after signing an agreement of Rs 1.97 billion with the construction company. So far, 28.8 kilometers of the canal has been constructed from Brahmadev to Phuleli of Shuklaphanta Municipality.

According to the Mahakali Treaty, the Indian side has constructed the 1,200-meter main canal from Tanakpur to the Nepal-India border. The government has set a target to construct the canal up to Malakheti of Kailali by 2087 BS.