SURKHET, April 17 -- The drilling of a tunnel with the use of a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has been completed in Nepal for the first time. With the help of the TBM, the 12.2 kilometer tunnel for the Bheri-Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project, a national pride project, has been completed about a year ahead of schedule.

Prime Minister KP Oli, on Tuesday, oversaw the breakthrough in the tunnel drilling, pressing a remote button in Bheriganga Municipality-11, Chiple.

The China Overseas Engineering Group Limited (Covec) started to drill the tunnel through the Chure hills in November 2017, from Hattikhal of Babai to Chiple in Bheri. Under the agreement signed by the contractor company with the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (Do...