Kathmandu, March 15

The Development and Technology Committee under Federal Parliament has said the 76.2-kilometre long Fast Track project will be completed on time. A sub-panel formed by the committee submitted a report today, which states the project will be completed within four years.

The Nepali Army (NA) had awarded the contract to conduct the detailed project report (DPR) of the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track project to a South Korean joint venture company called Yooshin and Pyunghwa on September 19 last year. The company has already submitted a draft of the DPR to the NA.

According to NA, they will be receiving the final DPR from the Korean JV company next week. The project is expected to be completed four years after the DPR has been finalised.

The report submitted by the sub-panel has mentioned that the Nepali Army has been carrying out works of the fast track in an effective manner. Chairman of the committee Kalyani Khadka, today stated that the NA had completed the track work on 54 kilometres of the 76.2-kilometre long highway. She also added that around 70 per cent of the track opening work on the fast track has been completed so far.

As per Khadka, the report prepared by sub-committee has asked the Nepali Army to coordinate with the local levels in order to complete the work as soon as possible. The sub-panel has also suggested the NA to use locally available raw materials while constructing the road.

Nepali Army has been assigned the full responsibility to execute the Fast Track project, which it has segregated into three segments. Out of the 76.2-kilometre-long expressway, it plans to construct 17 km on its own, hire dependable Nepali contractors for 37 km of the stretch and sign up foreign contractors for the remaining 22.2 km of tunnel and bridge section.

The project was assigned to the Nepali Army by the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government in 2017. The then government had asked the NA to complete the project within four years and allocated Rs 112 billion for the project.