Siddharthanagar, Mar. 25: The construction of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Belahiya in Rupandehi has gained momentum.

The work for the construction of ICP, which had been stopped for years, has accelerated after India handed over the land last year.

In 2005, there was an agreement between Nepal and India for the construction of the ICP, but there was a delay by 18 years on the part of India in land acquisition and transfer.

According to the agreement, the ICP, which has an investment of IRs 1.61 billion by the government of India, should be completed and handed over to Nepal.

K.S.M. Washir Mohad. and Sons Lucknow and Consultant Rights Company, who have agreed to complete the construction in two years, have accelerated the construction works.

During the India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ the Prime Ministers of both the countries jointly laid the foundation stone of the ICP by pressing the switch on July 1, 2023.

Dharmendra Panthi, chief of the Federal Project Implementation Unit, Bhairahawa, who oversees the project, said that according to the agreement, the construction work of the project is currently moving in full swing.

“The work will be done in two packages, while the buildings are being constructed in the first package, while the furnishing work will be done in the second package,” Panthi said.

It has been eight months since the work started as per the agreement.

During this period, physical progress has reached 31.72 per cent while financial progress has been 26.57 per cent.

The project will be built in two phases, the first phase will be physical construction and the next phase will be decoration work.

At present, four buildings—warehouse, administrative, quarantine and housing – are being constructed.

According to the agreement between the government of Nepal and India, except for the land required towards Nepal side for the project, the Indian government is doing all the construction work, including the technology, Panthi said.

Compared to Nepal, India has made more progress in the construction of ICP.

He said that after the completion of construction on both sides, the process of operation will be started.

On the Nepali side, about 52 bighas of land was acquired 16 years ago for the construction of the ICP.

On the Indian side, after the settlement became denser at the previously designated location, 52 hectares of land was acquired a little west of the designated location, he said.

After the construction of ICP at Belahiya Customs Office, which currently has the capacity to park 150 vehicles, 633 trucks can go in and 121 trucks can go out at one time.

There will be 692 trucks for import parking and 270 trucks for export parking.

Chief District Officer of Rupandehi Ganesh Aryal said that the work was moving smoothly.

He said that if there is any problem during the construction, he will coordinate the work.

According to the agreement, river materials required for the construction of the project should be provided by the government of Nepal, but now the local levels have taken the amount of the materials from the construction company as their income source will decrease.

Later, the company will claim the amount with the Ministry of Finance.

According to the rules, the cargo vehicle must enter Nepal within one week after the goods are loaded in India.

As per the rules, if vehicles do not cross the border, an additional fee of 1,000 Indian rupees will be charged daily and if they do not clear the customs in one day after coming to Nepal, they will have to pay a fee of Rs. 300 to Rs. 1,600 depending on the vehicle load.

As the ICP is a one-door system and after its construction, all the facilities related to customs will be available in one place, so the importers are expected to be relived of the need to go to different offices.

Similarly, Thakur Kumar Shrestha, president of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that after the construction of ICP, the current parking problem will also be resolved.

He said that it was a must to pay attention to complete the projects at the earliest and bring them into operation.

President of Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hari Prasad Aryal said that the problem such as taking more than a week for cargo vehicles to enter Nepal from India and the problem of taking two to three days at the customs point even after entering Nepal will be resolved after the construction of this ICP.