KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 12

The eastern section of the Narayangarh-Butwal road expansion project has experienced sluggish physical progress.

The 64.42-km Gaindakot-Daunne road stretch within the Butwal-Narayangarh section along the East-West Highway has achieved only 41.17 percent physical completion.

The contract for the road widening project was signed approximately five years ago, with conditions stipulating that construction works would be completed within three years and that the contractor company would be responsible for road maintenance. However, the road expansion project has not gained the expected momentum, even though the deadline has been extended multiple times.

Rakesh Jha, the project's eastern section manager, shared that the overall progress of the eastern section has reached 41.17 percent. He added that 595 workers, including technicians, work daily in the eastern section, along with 13 excavators, seven graders, 11 loaders, four cranes, 28 tippers, 10 water-carrying tanks, and five concrete-carrying vehicles regularly mobilized on the project.

Jha noted that construction works have been intensified in the field to meet the extended timeline's progress. The project has also continued the task of blacktopping the road section. So far, 16 km of the eastern section has been blacktopped, and preparations for repairing the damaged road have also been initiated, considering the approaching festivals.

Dhiraj Dhakal, Information Officer and engineer at the eastern section of the project, mentioned that tasks related to small bridges and the sub-structure of 11 out of 12 large bridges in the eastern section have been completed. He added, 'Around 50 percent of the tasks related to relocating electric poles in the eastern section have been completed.'

The 115-km road project, stretching from the Narayani River in Gaindakot to Butwal, was divided into two sections when the expansion contract was signed. The Chinese State Engineering Corporation was awarded the contract for the expansion project. Section 'A' includes a 64.42-km road from Gaindakot to Daunne, and section 'B' covers 48.58-km from Daunne to Butwal.

The road expansion project is being implemented with an 85 percent loan assurance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to the design, the road will have six lanes in settlement areas, four lanes in forested areas, and three lanes in the Daunne mountainous region.

As per the information provided, the government has contributed 15 percent of the total project costs.'