China has suggested that the much-awaited railway line between Nepal and China be constructed by constructing an underground tunnel through Sagarmatha National Park. A senior engineer involved in the project said it was difficult to trains from other parts of country. Citing the engineer, Hong Kong’s prestigious South China Morning Post reported on the suggestion to build a Nepal-China railway through the Everest region.
It is mentioned that the Chinese law does not allow construction of big projects in the environment protected area. At a cost of 8 billion, the railway will play a key role in boosting Nepal’s economy. Six technical routes have been proposed to build a 1,000-kilometer boarder between the two countries, and Chinese technicians are confused about which route to choose. According to Nepal Press Online, the debate has focused on taking the railway through Sagarmatha National Park.
A report published last Wednesday in China’s local newspaper Railway Strand Design states that an agreement has been reached to build a 30-kilometer-long tunnel on the railway line through Sagarmatha National Park. Liang Dong, a senior engineer at the Chinese Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group in Sanchi Province, told the newspaper that more than a third of the tunnels in the Sagarmatha National Park have been agreed to be built underground.
The railway connects the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, to the Tibetan city Xigaze via the border town of Gyirong. The 513-kilometer railway will cost 8.27 billion, according to Engineer Liang.
Preparations are underway to submit the report including the format and cost prepared by the expert technicians to the government of China and Nepal. In 2016, Nepal and China signed an agreement on railway construction under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu has not commented on the proposal to build a railway through the Sagarmatha base camp. According to Engineer Liang, each route has its own pros and cons, and in the initial evaluation phase, proposals for some other routes were rejected because they were expected to be expensive to build.
It is mentioned that Sagarmatha National Park has been chosen as compared to other routes as the cost is expensive and the route is also long. Technicians have also proposed the border town of Zhangmu as an alternative to the route to protect Sagarmatha National Park. However, geographical difficulties and other difficulties have not given priority to this route. The 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Nepal has weakened the geographical conditions of the Zhangmu region, making the route a low priority. By Muna Chand
