Kathmandu, May 24

Even during the nationwide lockdown that the government has imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic the Department of Roads (DoR) has managed to blacktop 77.20 kilometres of roads across the country.

As per the department, more than 77 kilometres of roads have been blacktopped in the last 52 days of the lockdown. The DoR has also constructed 121.60 km of gravel roads. During this period, 36.75 km of road tracks have been opened and periodic maintenance on 52.30 km of roads has been done. Periodic maintenance ranges from general maintenance, painting and marking to over-laying.

The department has also been able to complete the work of 21 bridges that were under construction during the lockdown. It informed that construction work of 248 bridges in underway. Likewise, construction works along 364 different road projects across the nation are also being done.

Keshab Kumar Sharma, director general of DoR, said all the 33 divisions of the department are involved in some work on roads, bridges and periodic maintenance during this period. “Nearly one-third of the works of around 2,000 projects are currently underway in `different districts,” he added.

Sharma said that the DoR has taken these works as a great achievement considering the current situation when the nation is in a lockdown and there is scarcity of workers. “Even in such a difficult situation we have been able to keep our projects afloat. Being able to work on one-third work of the projects is an achievement in itself,” he stated.

Work could not start due to various confusions at the beginning of the lockdown. Later, the High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 decided to move ahead with the work of large projects including Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Drinking Water Project by fulfilling the physical distance and health criteria of the workers on site.

The government also decided that other infrastructure works could be done by fulfilling the criteria set by the Ministry of Health and Population. After that, the department moved ahead with the work of its projects, said Sharma.

“We sought approval from the High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 and we also mentioned that for some of the projects workers from outside the respective districts had to be brought,” he said.

“The high-level committee asked us to move ahead with the work in coordination with the district administration office,” he said. Work is also underway on projects including railways, hydropower, airports and buildings.

During this period work is being done on projects ranging from those of national pride to small projects, Sharma informed. Construction and upgradation works of some projects like the Mid-Hill Highway, Postal Highway, Kaligandaki Corridor and Madan Bhandari Highway are being carried out at present.

During the lockdown over-laying and marking of about 23 km of roads have been done in Kathmandu.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.