July 4: The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has sped up the construction of a petroleum storage facility at the Rohini River bank in Rupandehi. 

Engineer Hiramani Khanal reported that 70% of the embankment construction at the Rohini rivulet, which borders the Omsatiya and Rohini rural municipalities, has been completed. The construction activities are based on an assessment of the flood situation over the last 50 years.

The Rohini rivulet flows north and west of the land where the NOC is building the storage facility. A retaining wall has been constructed on the north side, while a gabion wall has been built to the west of the site.

The new storage facility is being constructed on approximately 14 bighas of land purchased along the Parasi-Bhairahawa road section.

This location was chosen because the current Bhalbari depot has limited storage capacity and is close to a human settlement. The new facility will sustain the petroleum demand of Lumbini Province for 20 days. The NOC is working on storage depots at various locations across the country to increase its petroleum product storage capacity.

Project Coordinator Pradeep Yadav stated that the new storage tanks, costing Rs 3 billion, will include three tanks with a capacity of 2,100 kilolitres of diesel, two tanks for 1,600 kilolitres of petrol, and three tanks for 70 kilolitres of kerosene oil.

Once the new facility is completed, the Bhalbari depot will be relocated to the Rohini rivulet bank. Yadav also mentioned that the project design, undertaken by Kathmandu University, will be completed by mid-October.

The foundation stone for the project is expected to be laid in November, with a target to complete construction by 2083 BS. (RSS)