MYAGDI: A river control project has been completed at four places in Myagdi at a cost of Rs. 36.5 million.

The Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project Pokhara under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has constructed embankments and composite walls to control river erosion and floods. Project engineer Narjung Gurung informed that the project was constructed in Darbang, Tatopani, Singa and Lamgara in the current fiscal year 2081/82.

A 66-meter-long, four-meter-wide, three-meter-high concrete wall and gabion wall on it have been constructed through a contract on the banks of the Myagdi River behind Saraswati Secondary School in Masar, Singa Tatopani, Beni Municipality-4.

The Sahana-BRT JV, which signed a contract for Rs 15.5 million last February for the construction of the project, estimated to cost Rs 27 million, has completed the work before the monsoon season.

A 26-meter-long composite technology wall has been constructed on the banks of the Myagdi River in Darwang, the center of Malika Rural Municipality. A 150-meter-long gabion wall has been constructed on the banks of the Myagdi River in Beni Municipality-4 Singa and a 150-meter-long gabion wall has been constructed on the banks of the Kaligandaki River in Ward No. 1 Lamgara.

The river control plan for Darwang, Singa and Lamgara, with an allocation of Rs 70 lakh each, has been implemented through the user committee. The outer part of the gabion wall constructed in Lamgara has been plastered with ‘jacketing’ to prevent the wire mesh from rusting.

Kamal Thapa, chairperson of the consumer committee of the Lamgara River Control Project, said that after the embankment, settlements, agricultural land, and the well of the Ratnechaur Lift Drinking Water Project have been protected.

This year, a contract agreement worth Rs 97.5 million has been signed with various construction companies for river control at four additional locations through the project. A contract agreement worth Rs 27.1 million has been signed with RRC JV to construct a 102-meter-long composite technology wall on the banks of the Myagdi River to protect the Singa Tatopani Market, and a contract agreement worth Rs 42.1 million has been signed with Rupal-Supreme to construct a 165-meter composite wall on the banks of the Myagdi River in the Darwang Bus Park area in Beni.

Gurung Baje Mandali JV has signed a contract agreement for Rs 7.4 million to construct a 50-meter-long composite wall for the protection of Gayatri Mandir in Raghuganga Rural Municipality-3. Sahna-Gopi JV has signed a contract agreement for Rs 29.59 million to construct an 80-meter concrete wall on the banks of the Kaligandaki River, across the Kalipul settlement in Beni.

Project Chief Bidurman Shrestha said that the contractor selection and construction of the project for which agreements were made in the current fiscal year will be completed in the coming fiscal year.

With the river control project gaining momentum in Beni and surrounding areas, the residents of the coastal areas have started to feel safe.