At a well-attended public function held on May 7, 2007 at Chitwan, Ambassador of India gifted a hydraulic excavator to the Irrigation Management Committee of Pithuwa VDC. The excavator has been procured with grant assistance of NRs. 7.4 million from Government of India.
Pithuwa VDC of Chitwan suffers from frequent floods in the rainy season. Presently, the village has only one excavator, which is old, non-functional and beyond repairs, and hence cannot be used for dredging of canal to prevent flooding of agricultural fields. The new excavator provided by the Government of India to the Pithuwa Irrigation Management Committee will enable faster dredging and damming of feeder canals for irrigating the farmlands and save the crops from destruction during the flood season. More than 15,000 people living in Pithuwa VDC and their more than 1,800 hectares of agricultural land will be directly benefited by the new excavator.
This follows a number of other development projects under the India-Nepal Cooperation Programme undertaken in District Chitwan. For example, Government of India has provided assistance for the construction of a library building for Birendra Multiple Campus at Bharatpur and of the campus building, and hostel for Madi Campus at Basantpur VDC in Madi, apart from gifting ambulances to two healthcare centres in that district.
In his address at the function, Ambassador of India noted that as a country dominated by agriculture, rural development was a basic requirement for Nepal’s modernization. He expressed hope that the new excavator provided by the Government of India will significantly contribute to the development of agriculture and local economy of Pithuwa and adjoining VDCs. He also mentioned that the various cooperation initiatives being taken up under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme manifested the commitment of the Government and the people of India to support the people of Nepal in achieving lasting peace and development.
Currently, under the ongoing bilateral economic cooperation programme between India and Nepal, more than 200 projects are being realized in the sectors of education, health, community development and infrastructure covering almost all the districts of Nepal with an outlay of over NRs.2000 crores.
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