Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Masamichi Saigo and Ratna Prasad Juwarchan, Chairman of Ward No. 1, Thasang Rural Municipality, signed a grant agreement for the project Installation of an Excavator for Tukche Village, Mustang District.

Under the agreement the Embassy of Japan will provide grant assistance of USD 82,553 (about NPR 9.3 million) under the Japanese Government's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).

Tukche is a village in Mustang District that is a famous stop-over for trekkers heading to Jomson, Muktinath, and beyond to Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang, and around the Annapurna trekking routes.

Tukche is located along the banks of the Kali Gandaki River, thus large volumes of snowmelt water regularly hit the river banks during the rainy season. Erosion also happens in Tukche, and in the past people lost their fields and had relocated their houses. The excavator provided by this project will be used to prevent erosion as an emergency and temporary countermeasure.

“The Embassy of Japan believes that the project can contribute towards conserving the land around Tukche village. It also hopes that the assistance will contribute towards further strengthening the bilateral relationship between Japan and Nepal,” said a press release issued by Embassy of Japan in Nepal.