June 7, Kathmandu – The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has launched an integrated digital monitoring portal to track the progress, budget utilization, and problem management of national pride irrigation projects in real time. According to the ministry, the first phase includes projects like Sikta, Rani Jamara-Kulriya, Bheri-Babai, Sun Koshi-Marin, Mahakali, and Babai irrigation projects under this digital platform. Additional irrigation projects will be gradually incorporated into this system in upcoming phases.
Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha introduced this system after conducting recent field inspections of Sikta, Rani Jamara-Kulriya, Bheri-Babai, and Babai irrigation projects to enhance project management effectiveness. With the portal operational, the minister and ministry secretaries can directly access up-to-date information from their offices concerning the physical and financial progress, budget expenditure, contract management, construction status, and any emerging issues related to the projects. The ministry anticipates that this will facilitate regular high-level monitoring and streamline decision-making processes.
Previously, real-time project conditions were primarily known through site visits or reports received at the end of the fiscal year. This often made timely evaluation of project progress difficult, especially for those experiencing repeated deadline extensions. The new system aims to eliminate these challenges. Under the new arrangements, each project chief is required to enter weekly updates into the portal regarding physical progress, financial status, contract implementation, claims and disputes, construction obstacles, and the steps taken to resolve them.
The ministry noted that the digital system will display issues identified in the projects with mapping, generate automated progress reports, and clearly indicate which package is delayed, the duration of the problem, and the responsible agency or individual for resolving it. Plans are underway to integrate the portal with the monitoring systems of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ office as well as the National Planning Commission. This integration will enable various government bodies to base decisions on a unified set of data.
Moreover, the budget proposals for the upcoming fiscal year submitted by the ministry will be based on data obtained through this system. Budget requests will be formulated according to each project’s progress, spending capacity, and verified existing issues. During the portal’s inauguration, Minister Shrestha expressed confidence that the digital dashboard will help identify and address problems that previously remained confined to files for months despite incomplete construction work, thereby expediting the decision-making process. He also mentioned that issues requiring inter-ministerial coordination will no longer have to await the fiscal year’s end but will be identified and addressed weekly, fostering more effective problem resolution.
