Rasuwa: The work of the dry port under construction at Timure in Rasuwagadhi has been stopped for three months.

The Chinese government is constructing the building with the necessary infrastructure, but the work couldn't move further since the workers who went to China to get vaccines against COVID-19 did not return.

The dry port is being constructed on the bank of the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwagadhi, one of the two operational entry points to China from Nepal. The Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (IMTDB) has awarded the construction to the Chinese Tibet Fuli Construction Group Company Limited.

Only about 13 per cent of the construction work has been done so far.

Shobha Kant Raut, Engineer of Tibet Fuli, said that the work could not be carried out as the employees who left for China to get vaccinated did not return even after three months after their departure.

"Workers are expected to come to the company within a month. After they arrive, the work will move forward smoothly," said Futi Sherpa, a Chinese language translator working there.

The dry port is being constructed in Timure with the financial and technical assistance of China and is expected to increase trade between Nepal and China.

The construction will cost 124 million Chinese Yuan. The port is about two and a half kilometres south of the border on the way to Syaphrubeshi. The port is being constructed in an area of ??about five hectares of land in Timure, 26 kilometres from the district headquarters Dhunche.

A parking lot for 350 large trucks and small vehicles will be constructed.

The construction of the dry port near Keyrung, which is a priority of neighbouring China, was started after the acquisition of land and compensation work. Keyrung is 22 KM away from the border.

Land acquisition for the port was started four years ago while the design for the structure was signed in January 2015.

China has been giving higher priority to the development of infrastructure at Keyrung and Rasuwagadhi after the 2015 earthquake damaged Tatopani border, the major point of trade and transit between Nepal and China.

Five hectares of land of Langtang National Park and three hectares of public land were acquired for the construction of the structure.

The port will have an administrative office, quarantine, bank, lab, security and other offices and the capacity to park more than 400 containers and a 750 square metres warehouse.

China has also started the construction of a modern dry port at Pangsing, about 30 kilometres from the Rasuwagadhi border.