The construction company, which had been working at a rapid pace until the Siddhababa Tunnel 'breakthrough' on the Siddhartha Highway, has recently slowed down.

The physical and financial progress of the Siddhababa Tunnel Project Office, which was made public on Bhadra 29, has increased by only 1.69 percent till the second week of Mangsir. In a period of almost three months, only little progress has been seen.

The Planning Office has stated that the Siddhababa Tunnel Project located in Tinau Rural Municipality-3, Dobhan, along the Siddhartha Highway has reached 62.75 percent physical and 53.09 percent as of Mangsir 15. The physical progress of the Siddhababa Tunnel Project was 61.06 percent at the end of Bhadra. The financial progress was 51.01 percent. The lining work of the main tunnel under the tunnel has been completed. Out of the 1,126-meter tunnel, 1,089 meters of the tunnel is complete. The remaining work is on the north and south 'portals'.

The work of structural coating (lining) on ​​the inner walls of the inner tunnel of the main tunnel has been completed. According to Savita Gyawali, information officer of the Siddhababa Tunnel Project Office, the construction company China State Construction Engineering Corporation has recently done culvert and portal work. She said that work on the 37-meter portal on the north and south sides of the tunnel is currently underway.

Work is underway on the 17-meter portal on the north side and the 19-meter portal on the south side (Siddhababa Temple). Utility duct work is underway inside the tunnel, according to which pipes have been laid. But the construction company has not started the electrical work yet. Out of the total to be constructed, the work on 9 culverts has reached the final stage.

Information officer Gyawali said that the work has not started yet because the final design proposal for the rock shed and rock fall barrier has not been submitted. ‘The design of the rock shed and rock fall barrier is still under discussion,’ she said, ‘the work has not progressed as it has not been approved yet.’ The construction company has not brought the final proposal for the rock net either.'

According to Engineer and Information Officer Gyawali, the construction company has already ordered electricity and other materials. The construction company has stated that the work outside will be done only by driving vehicles from inside.

She said that the work including ventilation, electricity and fire fighting of the main tunnel is yet to be done. She said that from the point of view of safety, vehicles should not be allowed to run without all the equipment being installed. The work of covering the walls inside the tunnel with concrete, shotcrete, blocks or other materials has been completed. The work of inverting the ground part of the main tunnel has already been completed. The Siddhababa Tunnel Project Office has stated that the inverting work has also been completed.

The foundation has been prepared on the north side and the work of the portal including the foundation on the south side is about to be completed. If there are no obstacles or other problems in between, the main tunnel is planned to be open to traffic by Chaitra, but the project office has stated that there will be some delays as it will take time to complete all the work.

Lining and invert work is also underway on the three bypasses here. Bypass 1 is 151 meters long, Bypass 2 is 161 meters long, and Bypass 3 is 130 meters long.

Invert work on Bypass 1 has been completed for 145 meters. Lining work has also been completed for 144.5 meters. Invert work on Bypass 2 has been completed for 157.8 meters, and lining work has been completed for 157.8 meters. Invert work on Bypass 3 has been completed for 125 meters. Lining work has also been completed for 117.6 meters, the project office has stated.

The office has a plan to run vehicles through the main tunnel first as there are steep slopes outside and a river at the bottom. The total length of this two-lane tunnel is 1.126 kilometers. The construction of the tunnel is being done in accordance with the 'Asian Highway Standard'. The tunnel is being built from Siddhababa to Ramapithecus Park in the approximately 5-kilometer high-risk area of ​​Siddhababa.

Work has also been progressing in the risky area of ​​Siddhababa area to make the road safe by using slope stabilization and rock barrier methods. Stones will be removed from the potential accident area, and a strong wire mesh will be laid on the upper part of the hill. Through which slope protection has been done in the landslide-prone area. There will be a rock barrier on the hill as part of the plan. Out of 2,300 meters of slope protection work has been completed on the south side of the tunnel area.

495 out of 1,100 works have been completed on the north side. Only 481 out of 9,620 on MR One Mountain Side have been completed. The project chief officer said that 1,414 square meters out of 7,440 on MR Two Mountain Side have been completed. Work on MR One Riverside 1,360 and MR Two Riverside 500 meters has not progressed.

Under the project, the Chinese company China State Construction Engineering Corporation, the construction contractor, will carry out risk reduction work using modern technology on the Chidiakhola-Siddhababa Temple and the road from the northern end of the tunnel to Dobhan as part of the project package.

It is claimed that the construction of a 'rock shed' in the Siddhababa area will be the first in the history of road infrastructure. The design of the 'rock shed' under which the tunnel is to be built is in the final stages, said Gyawali, the information officer of the project. ‘Rock shed’ is a technology to protect vehicles and roads from landslides. A strong roof in the shape of an RCC slope or steel slope is built over the road at the landslide site. In the ‘rock shed’ constructed in this way, the landslides that fall will reach the river or cliff through the roof.

This will not affect the vehicles, drivers, passengers and the road. Engineer Gyawali said that vehicles will move freely under the roof. Since there are many landslides at both portals of the tunnel, the ‘rock shed’ is initially going to be built along with the portal. The design of the 780-meter-long ‘rock shed’ construction in the Siddhababa area has progressed.

According to the planning office, the strong wire mesh is expected to be able to hold rocks weighing up to 5,000 kg. The Chinese company of the tunnel, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, has signed a contract agreement to build the tunnel at a cost of 7.34 billion rupees including value-added tax. The agreement was signed in Falgun 2078 to complete the project within 5 years. According to the contract terms, the construction of the first phase must be completed within 5 years of the start of construction, i.e. on Chaitra 2083.