The government is continuously pouring budget into the project as a national pride project - Kathmandu-Terai/Madhes Fast Track. Its official launch date is 2074 Baisakh. At that time, the Nepal Army was given the responsibility of project construction management by the decision of the Government of Nepal and the Council of Ministers meeting.

But the army claims that since the old Detailed Project Report (DPR) was not available, we had to build it again. And, after getting approval from the Council of Ministers and going into the contract process, it was 2078. As a result, even after years have passed since the project started, it was seen that the progress as expected has not been achieved.

But despite the army's claims, the general public has started to point fingers saying that the construction of the expressway has started since 2074. In their view, eight years have passed since the army took over the responsibility of managing the construction of the expressway. But the progress of the project so far has been only 45.16 percent.

'Although we were given the responsibility of managing the project construction in 2074, the work started only from Jestha 2078,' said a project source. 'On top of that, the work of amending the DPR and adding tunnel infrastructure fell through. That's why we started work in the field only four years and eight months ago.' The project has stated that due to the difficult geographical structure and the problem of landslides in some places, the initial DPR had to be revised as needed.

When the Kantipur team reached Dhedre in Bakaiya Rural Municipality-12 of Makawanpur on Thursday afternoon, covering a distance of 31 kilometers from Kathmandu, preparations were underway to install the right and left boundaries of the 82-meter-high bridge built there. The boundaries had already been installed in some parts. Since these magnificent structures are visible even from the Kanti Highway, many have been taking photos and videos from afar and posting them on social media. The magnificent structure built here has attracted everyone from afar.

The 82-meter-high bridge built parallel to the mouth of the Dhedre tunnel under the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhesh Fast Track is attracting everyone's attention. In Lendanda, Gadhi Rural Municipality-1, two 82-meter-high bridges have been constructed in parallel at the mouth of the tunnel. On Thursday, work was underway to place beams at the construction site. Workers were preparing for it. Where one bridge has been completed and the construction of the other is in the final stages.

Two parallel bridges have been constructed over the Jitpur River at the mouth of the Dhedre Tunnel for vehicles running from Kathmandu to Nijgadh and Nijgadh to Kathmandu. The length of the bridge built over the Jitpur River is 300 meters. The length of the bridge built over the Chalise River leading to the Lendanda Tunnel is 339 meters. Currently, 13 of the 89 special bridges have been constructed on the fast track.

Of these, the construction of 4 bridges in the Khokana section has not yet begun. Foundation work is underway at 54 of the under-construction bridges. The Kathmandu-Terai/Madhes Expressway Project Office has stated that the substructure work of other bridges is ongoing. 

Finishing work is underway inside the Dhedre and Lendanda tunnels. The length of the Dhedre tunnel is 1,691 meters and the length of the Lendanda tunnel is 1,623 meters. Four tunnels have been constructed, one for entry and one for exit. Apart from these, Nepal's largest traffic tunnel is also being constructed in Mahadevtar, Makawanpur, which is on the expressway. Its length is 3,455 meters. 

2,348 meters of the tunnel being built in Mahadevtar have been excavated. Military spokesperson and Assistant Lieutenant Colonel Rajaram Basnet said that 70 percent of the excavation work has been completed and preparations are underway to break through by Ashar. Although work on it has started along with the Lendanda and Dhedre tunnels, the project office says that the 'break through' has not been achieved yet due to the China State Construction Engineering Corporation not working on time. 

The Chandram Bhir tunnel is 2,237 meters long. 315 meters of it has been excavated. After 5 meters of the 390-meter Sisoutar tunnel, work is underway to dig portals for the 1,000-meter Devichaur and 583-meter Mauribhir tunnels. So far, the construction progress of the overall project is 45.16 percent and Rs 82.97 billion has been spent. The estimated cost of the overall project, including VAT, is Rs 211.93 billion. 

The Council of Ministers had decided on 21 Baisakh 2074 to hand over the responsibility of managing the construction of the expressway to the army. Later, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport handed over the project to the army on 27 Shrawan 2074. Accordingly, its construction is being managed by the army. The total distance of the expressway is 70.977 km. The total distance of the tunnel is only 10.979 km. Similarly, the distance of the bridge is only 12.885 km. The deadline is until Chaitra 2083, and the physical progress is 45.16 percent.

It was said that all the work of the expressway would be completed in Mangsir 2081 when the army took over the management. After it was not completed within that time, the deadline has been extended to Chaitra 2083. The Nepali Army claims that it was not able to start the work immediately after taking over the management due to the time it took to get the Detailed Project Report (DPR) approved by the Council of Ministers. The work on the DPR started on 16 Asoj 2075 and was prepared on 19 Magh of the same year. Then it was approved by the Council of Ministers on 1 Bhadra 2076. Packages 1 to 7 were contracted from Jestha 2078 to 10 Magh 2079.

The first revision of the DPR of the project was made on 30 Shrawan 2080 and the second revision was made on 25 Kartik 2081. The project has stated that the DPR will have to be revised again when the contract is awarded in the Khokana section. The problem has not been resolved in 6.5 km of this section yet. This has affected the progress of the overall project.

Even locals are confused about whether a fast track will be built from the Khokana area or not. Prime Minister Sushila Karki conducted an on-site inspection of the Khokana section on Tuesday, where construction has not progressed. She has also given instructions to take the problem seriously and resolve it quickly.

Prime Minister Karki emphasizes that religious beliefs and cultural heritage should not be affected while moving forward with development work, including road infrastructure. ‘We should take the concerns of the locals seriously and find a solution,’ she told government officials, ‘If necessary, we should be ready to change the alignment and zero point.’

She says that development work should be carried out in a way that does not hurt the trust of the locals. Locals have also been demanding that projects including smart cities, outer ring roads, and expressways be built in one place, saying that archaeological and cultural heritage will be destroyed if they are built in one place. The project is being constructed in 13 packages. 

The Khokana-Dukuchhap section has been included in package number 11. Similarly, packages number 8 and 9 have two parts, 8 'A' and 'B' and 9 'A' and 'B'. 'We have divided the large package into smaller ones to provide opportunities to Nepali construction entrepreneurs,' said a project official, 'There are not many problems in the contracted package, there are some problems of tree felling and land, we are working to resolve them.' 

Looking at the current construction progress, it is certain that the work will not be completed within the stipulated time. However, the project claims that since the construction of large and tall bridges and tunnels is underway, the progress will increase once the work is completed. ‘It does not take much time to build a road, but it takes time to build a high bridge and tunnel,’ the project said, ‘That is why work is currently being done on the bridge and tunnel, which will make good progress when completed.’

 The project has stated that there are still issues related to land acquisition in the Khokana-Dukuchhap section, where its starting point will be, and a decision regarding vehicle traffic management is yet to be made. In this area, 136 ropanis of private land, 14 ropanis of Guthi land and 165 ropanis of land are yet to be acquired as per the DPR. 

‘The project will be built as per the wishes of the people of Khokana,’ said a project official, ‘If not, we will change the demarcation as an alternative.’ So far, Khokana has been kept as the starting point and Nijgadh as the end point. 

The project area covers 9 km of road in Lalitpur, 4.6 in Kathmandu, 49.77 in Makawanpur and 7.6 in Bara. After the construction of the fast track, the project is expected to reach Nijgadh in 1 hour from Kathmandu. 5 km of the road has been blacktopped on the subbase and service lanes of the 11-kilometer road towards Nijgadh and Makawanpur. The army has stated that 54,151 trees have been cut down under the project and 755,552 trees have been planted and arrangements have been made for their protection. 

The construction of bridges and tunnels on the Gaurav project fast track is currently underway, said Army Spokesperson and Assistant Lieutenant Colonel Rajaram Basnet. ‘We are committed to completing the work by mid-2083,’ he said, ‘There is a matter of land compensation and road delineation in the Khokana section, we have received various guidance, and the Ministry of Defense is also working diligently to resolve the problem, we hope that the problem in this area will be gradually resolved.’ 

Ignoring the alternative 

A study report on the alternative starting point of the expressway by a professor from Pulchowk Engineering Campus and a technical team from the Road Department was submitted to the Ministry of Defense and Physical Infrastructure and Transport in Chaitra 2080. Although the report, which was prepared after 9 months, mentioned that the Khokana area would be suitable, no work has been done on it so far. Another option is to build a bridge over the Bagmati without falling into the Sikalighat area. However, the study has pointed out that this may cause social and cultural problems. 

Another option is to make Bungmati the starting point and build a four-lane corridor road and acquire new land for it. It does not fall into the Sikalighat area. For this, new land will have to be acquired on the right bank of the Bagmati River. The study says that Bungmati can be used as the starting point and two-lane roads can be built along the Bagmati River corridor.

It is said that additional land will be acquired on the left bank, making Bungmati the starting point. Another option is to use the right bank of the Bagmati River by making Dukuchhap the starting point and acquiring some land for that, the report mentions.