The second phase of blacktop work has been completed on the Nagdhunga-Naubise road section. Only the third or final phase of blacktop work remains to be done on the 12.26 km stretch of road where the upgrade has been started. The second phase of blacktop work has already been completed on the 100-meter stretch of Jhaplekhola.

Keshav Prasad Ojha, head of the eastern section of the Nagdhunga-Muglin road project, said that it was not possible before the election as the third-level blacktop work would have to be done by closing the road. “The work of the final level blacktop and the construction of a flyover at Khanikhola is still pending in this section,” he said. “Although the deadline has been extended until Falgun, the work will not be completed by that time due to the election.” He said that when discussing this at the district level, he was informed that it would not be appropriate to close the road before the election.

The contract for the upgrading of the first section has been won by Jangsu-Sagun JV for Rs 1.3 billion. A disabled-friendly flyover for pedestrians is being constructed at Khanikhola in this section. The contract agreement for this section was signed on 29 Chaitra 2078. The work began only on 26 Jestha 2079, about a year and a half after the agreement. After the work was not completed by 27 Jestha 2081, the deadline was extended to Magh 2081. After the work was not completed, the deadline was extended again to 10 Shrawan 2082, but after the work was not completed, the deadline was given until mid-Falgun.

‘It seems that there will be some delay since the final phase of work has to be done after the elections,’ Ojha said, ‘The deadline was given until Falgun, the elections were held at this time, and the workers will go to vote due to the elections and it will take time to return, so the work will be completed by Chaitra.’ He said that it has not been decided how much more time will be given after Falgun.

The second section is Naubise-Malekhu. The distance of this section is 43.54 km. The first layer of blacktop was blacktopped on 15 km of the road before Asard. Chief Ojha said that the progress of this section so far is 58 percent, and the first layer of blacktopping of 21.5 km has been completed on both sides. 15 km of the road has been blacktopped in the second layer. ‘The entire contract cannot be completed in the current fiscal year, but the target is to complete the first phase of blacktop work,’ Ojha said, ‘The construction of structures and bridges is currently underway.’ He said that blacktop and road safety work is also underway. Work on 10 of the 13 bridges in this section has been completed. ‘Work is underway to paint the already built bridges and to make the access in front of them accessible,’ he said, ‘work has been done to the point where vehicles can drive through the bridges.’

The construction of the Silyang, Phedi Khola and Khahare Khola bridges is still pending. The speed of work has not increased even after the electricity poles in this section were not removed on time. Currently, 100 poles out of 168 in this section remain to be removed. ‘The work on the Shopyang and Khahare Khola bridges is underway,’ Ojha said, ‘There was a problem on the Fedi Khola bridge due to litigation, and when the work was started without an interim order from the court, the locals obstructed it.’ He said that after the elections, the District Security Committee will meet and work towards finding a solution. ‘The target is to complete the work on all the bridges in this section by Asad of the current fiscal year,’ he said.

The contract for this section has been won by ZICG-Sharma-Lama JV for Rs 5.33 billion. 19 lakh. The work on this section, which was awarded a contract on 14 Baisakh 2079, was supposed to be completed by mid-Jestha 2082, but due to its failure, the deadline has been extended to Asoj 2083. Upgrading work is underway on the 94.66-kilometer road from Nagdhunga to Muglin. More than 12,000 vehicles ply this road every day. The progress of the Malekhu-Muglin section is comparatively low. However, the work has been accelerated recently, claims Sajna Adhikari, head of the Nagdhunga-Muglin Road Project, West Section.

‘Earlier, there was 0.5 percent monthly construction progress, now there is 3.04 percent progress,’ the Adhikari said, ‘Overall, the construction progress is now 40 percent.’ The total distance of this section is 38.86 km. Of which, 11 km of the four-lane road has been blacktopped in the first layer. Preparations are underway to demolish 6 km of the old blacktopped road in the Vishaltar and Majhimtar areas and build a new one.

‘There is a persistent shortage of construction materials. Although the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was approved to extract construction materials from Lamabagar in Malekhu, it has not been possible due to protests by the locals there,’ the official said. ‘Work is being carried out by bringing them from Jugedi in Nuwakot and Chitwan. If construction materials could be extracted from Lamabagar itself, the work would have been faster.’