Message From Project Director

Inter Basin Water Transfer Projects (IBWTP) are considered as one of the tool to manage water resources of a domain with high spatio-temporal variation of availability of water. Water transfer from water surplus basin to water deficit basin manages demand and supply balance of water which can assure year round irrigation, supply drinking water, generate hydropower and other water use needs.

Different IBWTPs have been studied in the past during formulation of Master Plan of Major River Basins of Nepal. Bheri Babai Multiple Diversion Project (BBDMP) is the first to be implemented and there are other such projects in pipeline such as Sunkosi-Marin, Kali Gandaki-Tinau etc.

BBDMP, one of the National Pride Projects of the country, is a milestone project for solving the spatio-temporal variation of water resources within Bheri and Babai River basin. The project aims to divert 40 cumecs of water from the water surplus Bheri River to water deficit Babai River to irrigate 51000 hectares of land of Banke and Bardiya districts. This project involves the construction of about 15 m high barrage cum bridge over the Bheri River, 12.2 Km long tunnel along the fragile Siwaliks geology, surge shaft, 46.8 MW capacity powerhouse at the tail end of the tunnel, switchyard and transmission line. On account of the topographical and geological complexity and optimization of risk associated with tunneling, BBDMP has planned the construction of the Headrace tunnel at first through mechanized tunneling method using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and lined with precast concrete segments.

The 12.2 Km long Headrace tunnel with 4.2 m finished diameter is already completed now. The successful completion of first TBM tunneling technology in Nepal has been taken as a major paradigm shift for the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation to achieve assured year-round irrigation. This technology has also opened up the possibility of its application in other sectors such as road tunnels, hydropower tunnels, metro tunnels and drinking water supply tunnels. Furthermore, this success has increased the technical capability and confidence level of the technical manpower of the department for future project development.

Despite the difficult situation of COVID-19, BBDMP is now focused in the successful completion of the remaining works- Civil works (Headworks, Surge Shaft, Powerhouse), Hydromechanical works, Electromechanical works and Transmission Line within the stipulated time.

BBDMP acknowledges the support and cooperation from all related stakeholders, and expects the continuation of such support and cooperation.

Dinesh Bhatt
Project Director

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