Patna, July 9: The Bihar government will resume work on the Sone canal management scheme during this financial year, water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said today.

He added that three years after the Centre shelved the project under accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP), it would be re-started and funded through the state’s planned expenditure. “The state cabinet has given its nod for the planned expenditure of Rs 125 crore to complete the scheme. We intend to start the tendering process soon,” said the minister.

AIBP was launched in 1996-97 with the objective to provide loans to state governments to complete major or medium irrigation projects, which remained incomplete at an advanced stage. The work on Sone canal modernisation started in 1978. It was sanctioned sponsorship under AIBP in 1999 but the work was stopped in March 2009. Around Rs 760 crore has been spent on the project.

Once completed, eight districts — Bhojpur, Rohtas, Patna, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Buxar, Gaya and Kaimur — would be benefited from the project.

Chaudhary said the state government has also been successful in getting an approval from the government of Nepal for the upkeep of a 15-km-stretch of the eastern afflux bund of Kosi embankment in the neighbouring country.

“We maintain a 32-km-stretch of the eastern afflux bund of Kosi embankment in Nepal. Their government takes care of the15-km-stretch in the upper reach of this barrage. But a World Bank team, during a visit to this upper reach of the Kosi barrage in January, expressed certain reservations on its maintenance,” said Chaudhury.