Locals have again obstructed the construction of Nagadhunga-Sisnekhola tunnel. All work has been stopped on both Tutipakha in Chandragiri in Kathmandu and Sisnekhola in Dhunibensi Municipality in Dhading since Monday. Locals who have houses near the road side service station in front of the mouth of the tunnel towards Dhading have stopped the work demanding compensation. Locals have come towards Kathmandu and stopped the work of the flyover under construction at Surung and Balambu located at Kisipdi.

Sanjay Panthi, senior divisional engineer of the Nagadhunga tunnel construction project, said that the problem occurred when the work was stopped when it reached the final stage of construction. "According to the current work, the tunnel was ready to be put into operation by August, according to which the workers were mobilized to the construction site," he said. The house of Kalu Tamang, a local, was damaged due to the flood last October.

"It was a risk to live in the house as the land was torn up due to rain," Panthi said, "This happened due to water flowing from the road side service station and the locals are demanding compensation." Regarding how the problem occurred at that place, he said that the technical team of the Development Assistance Implementation Division under the Road Department has already conducted a geological study and the study report will be issued within a few days.

'A decision will be made about what to do after the study report comes,' Panthi said, 'Even now we are trying to solve the problem and start the stopped work. Similarly, the project claims that 96 percent of the flyover construction work has been completed.

The work to be done inside the tunnel is in the final stage. Even though the work should be completed quickly, the locals stop the work from time to time, it is wrong to stop the work even though there is an option to solve the problem through talks and discussions,' he said, 'because of this obstruction, there is a problem in completing the work of the first vehicular tunnel in Nepal.'' But the responsible bodies of the government are acting as if they have not seen such things. Even though it is an important project, the government agency has been retreating from the matter of immediately solving the problems encountered in the tunnel and creating a working environment.

"Next April, a technical team of 20 people is coming from Japan to test everything inside the tunnel," Panthi said, "It has been more than three months since the initiative was taken to connect the power line, but it has not been connected yet." In the beginning, compensation, construction of the project was delayed due to Covid-19. In the last few years, the construction work has not been able to pick up speed due to frequent obstacles from the locals.

The construction was started on October 4, 2076, saying that the work would be completed within 42 months. According to the initial agreement, the duration of the project was till 2080 Baisakh. After the work was not completed within that time, the deadline was extended till 13 Baisakh, 2081, but the work was not completed. As the work could not be completed within that time, the deadline has been extended till October 2082.