Damaged Lokanthali-Kaushaltar road rehabilitation complete

Kathmandu, September 8

Rehabilitation of a section of Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road, which was damaged by the April earthquake, has been completed. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) accomplished the emergency rehabilitation of the Lokanthali to Kaushaltar section damaged by the 7.6-Richter scale quake that hit the country on April 25.

Based on the request of the Department of Roads, JICA had provided support in maintenance of some portions of the damaged road and its rehabilitation through its current initiative ‘Project on Urban Transport Improvement for Kathmandu Valley’. The rehabilitation work included closure of crack gaps and reconstruction of pavement structure, and water proofing works for pavement surface cracks, as per a press release issued by JICA.

The rehabilitation work was completed within two months — started on July 14 and finished on September 6 — and it cost approximately Rs 72 million. The construction work was carried out by Japanese consultant Nippon Koei and Nepali contractor Swachanda Nirman Sewa Pvt Ltd.

Earlier, Japan had provided support in construction of 9.1-km section of Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road from November 2008 to April 2011. Through this project, the two-lane road of Araniko highway was upgraded and expanded to four lanes to ensure smooth transportation of goods and people between Kathmandu and Bhaktapur and to help link the Valley with eastern tarai via Araniko highway and Sindhuli road, which connects Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas of the East-West highway.