January 31: Railway authorities have initiated the process for the construction of the third section of the Jayanagar-Bardibas railway from India's Jayanagar to Bardibas in Mahottari. Nepal Railway Company started the 17 km long third section of this project after the completion of the first and second sections from Jayanagar to Kurtha in Dhanusha and from Kurtha to Bhangaha in Mahottari respectively.

The project which is 69 km in total was divided into three sections. The first section is 35 km lomg from Jayanagar to Kurtha and the second is 17 km from Kurtha to Bhangaha. After completing the work of the two sections and putting the 52 km railway track into operation, the company is now focused on completing the third and the final section.

General Manager of Nepal Railway Company Niranjan Jha says that they are in the final stage of distributing compensation for the land required to build the 17 km track.

“Compensation distribution of the third section is in the final stage. As soon as the compensation is distributed, the construction work will proceed,” said Jha. The company said that the government has already provided compensation for more than 80 percent of the 123 bigha land required for this section.

The land acquired by giving compensation in this section is currently being surveyed. According to Jha, a joint team of technicians from Nepal and India is currently conducting a survey in the third section of this project, which is being built with the help of the Government of India.

The work of expanding the railway service in this section started as per the bilateral agreement reached during the visit of the then President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav to India in 2010. As per the agreement, a 35 km train service from Jayanagar to Kurtha was put into operation after the joint inauguration of the first section of the railway project by then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 March 2022.

The construction of the Jayanagar Bardibas railway project is being done by the Indian government-owned Econ Company. The Government of Nepal has provided land for railway track. As per the agreement, the Government of Nepal has been providing compensation for the land, while the construction work is being done by the Government  of India. -- RSS