KATHMANDU, MARCH 31
Roads constructed under Postal Highway in support of Indian government have been handed over to the public today.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Basant Kumar Nembang and Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra jointly handed over the constructed roads built with grant assistance of Indian government.
Under a memorandum of understanding between Nepal and India regarding strengthening of road infrastructure in Tarai region of Nepal, the government identified 10 priority roads to be built under Indian government funding worth Rs eight billion. The roads are connected with major towns located on the East-West Highway along India-Nepal border.
Among the 14 packages, roads under 13 packages were handed over which have been completed and are already being used by the people of the areas since over a year. Roads constructed in Bara, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Dang, Morang, Saptari and Parsa have been handed over.
On the occasion, the ambassador and minister thanked officials of the Postal Highway Directorate of the DoR and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
The project has been implemented under 'Government of India funding and Government of Nepal implementation' modality. For contractual purposes the 10 roads were divided into 14 packages and the Department of Roads (DoR) awarded 14 contracts during the period of October 2016 to November 2017 for their construction.
It also engaged the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) of India as the project management consultant.
The Postal Highway has been expected to complement the other major border infrastructure developed by India in Nepal such as Integrated Check Posts at Birgunj and Biratnagar and cross-border railway lines.
Issuing a statement today, Indian Embassy has also stated that the Indian government funded cross-border railway line between Jaynagar in India and Kurtha in Nepal has also been completed and is ready to be handed over to the government.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 01, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
