Sisnekhola in three minutes from Nagadhunga tunnel after one year!

If the project continues to work as per the target and if there are no obstacles in the work, the public will be able to travel using the tunnel after one year. The project claims that going through the tunnel to Sisnekhola, which is eight and a half km from Balambu towards Kathmandu, will take only three minutes.

Only 4 meters of the main tunnel of 2.688 km distance remains to be dug. With two meters remaining to be dug, the project is preparing to break through. For this, they are working around the clock by making 8/8 hour shifts, said Govind Dumru, Deputy Project Director of the project. After the 'break through', it will take one more year to finish it and run the transport means, leaving 2 meters left to dig the tunnel, we will 'break through' through a special program. Ramesh Koirala, an engineer of the Nagdhunga tunnel consulting company, said that the construction of the tunnel is being done by adopting the end blast method. "After placing the support in the excavated place, it should be checked for a long time to see if it has worked," he said, adding support may also be necessary. In such a situation, cranking may be required. So we do what is needed according to the need. Later, when it is strong enough to bear the load, we do the lining. We also manage oxygen, light etc. He said that there will be seven doors leading from the main tunnel to the emergency tunnel.

Deputy project director of the project, Dumru, said that an emergency tunnel has been built to quickly exit the main tunnel in case something happens inside the tunnel. "Safety, lighting, oxygen should be installed for one year after the break-through," he said, "Also, it takes time to slope the road inside the tunnel." The main tunnel will have a two-lane road — one going and one coming. Now, about 10,000 vehicles, small and large, pass through Nagadhunga every day. "The time taken to travel is saved rather than the distance," he said, "Fuel is saved, the risk of vehicle damage is reduced." "We are going to start the work of super structure," said Dumru, "three bridges and six culverts have been constructed." From Balambu to the entrance of the tunnel, the 2.307 km two-lane road is being paved and gravelled. A 565 meter access road will be constructed towards Sisnekhola in Dhading.

"It has not been decided to charge the toll fee for the traffic in the tunnel," said Dumru, "but the fee has not been determined." The government manages it. Vehicles carrying petroleum products, motorcycles and overloaded vehicles will not be allowed to use the tunnel. The tunnel will be monitored by CC cameras. He said that there will be a separate team to operate the tunnel. "The vehicles will be monitored by CC cameras to see how the vehicles are moving in the tunnel and how to rescue them in the event of an incident," he said, "which will be done by a team based in Kathmandu." In this project, which has a contract of 22 billion rupees, Japan has loan assistance of 16 and a half billion rupees. The Government of Nepal has invested 6 billion rupees in this. 51 months have passed since the construction of this project started.

The "break through" of the emergency tunnel was on July 22 and now the finishing work is being done. Its distance is 2557 meters. According to the initial agreement, the project period has ended in 080 Baisakh. Since the work is not completed within that time, the deadline has been extended to 081 Baisakh 13. According to the contract, the construction of the tunnel, which was started in October 2007, was to be completed within 42 months.