'Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project' (सुनकोशी मरिन डाइभर्सन आयोजना) is one of the National Pride Projects being developed by Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (Nepal).[1] [2] The project got status of National Pride Projects in 20 January 2020.[3]
The project is an inter-basin transfer project to transfer water from Sunkoshi River to the Marin Khola, a tributary of Bagmati River. The flow will be discharged to the Bagmati Irrigation System to irrigate additional 122,000 ha of land in Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi and Bara.[4]
The design flow of the project is 67 m3/s. The intake has a 12 m high diversion dam in Sunkoshi river. The flow is transferred via 13.3 km long tunnel.[5] The project also has a power station to generate 38.62 MW of electricity. The powerhouse is located in Kamalamai municipality.[4]
The project cost is NPR 37.2 billion for irrigation and NPR 46.19 billion for hydro-electricity.[6]