Dhading, February 20

Locals have been elated with news of a future project that will widen the Adamghat-Chautara road section that connects Kiranchowk VDC in Dhading to the highway, as the locals see the prospects of their agricultural produce finding easy market accessibility.

The 35 km-long road stretch begins from Adamghat on the Prithvi Highway and extends to the southern Mahabharata Himalayan ranges.

Engineer Madhusudan Saki from the Office of the Department of Road, Gajuri, said that a 10-kilometre stretch of the road from Adamghat to Bimire will be widened by nine metres, a 2.7-kilometre stretch of the road will be black-topped, and a 7.3-kilometre stretch will be gravelled.

The contract for this project has been given to Jaya Baba Construction with a budget of Rs 975 million. The project will be completed within six months. The contractor has already started work. Contractor and Engineer Shyam Kumar Shrestha said that they intended to complete the project within the stipulated time.

As part of reconstruction after the earthquake, a survey to widen the 15-kilometre road from Bimire to Petare by nine metres and construct the culvert and drains, and gravel the road will begin from the first week of March, according to social activist Keshav Adhikari.

Similarly, attempts to open a new track of 7.2 km road from Tallo Petare to Gogane VDC of Makawanpur are under way with a budget of Rs 2 million from the District Development Committee, said another social activist Yogendra Basnet.

“As transportation facility is available from Shikharkot to Baikuntha of Makawanpur, the road stretch from Adamghat will connect Chautara. As a result, local products like potatoes, wicker baskets, goats, poultry, and other goods can easily be transported,” said Basnet.

Meanwhile, former chairperson of Kiranchowk VDC Yob Raj Baral said that more than 60 per cent of the total cultivable land in Kiranchowk has been irrigated. Fish farms, paddy plantations, vegetable farms, and wheat farms are abundant in the area.