With only one year left for the completion date of the Siddhababa Tunnel under the Siddhartha Highway, 67.27 percent physical progress has been made. The contract completion date will be on Chaitra 2083. But the work has not been able to gain momentum lately. The construction company, which had been working at a rapid pace until the tunnel 'breakthrough', has slowed down recently.

The project office has stated that the work of the Siddhababa Tunnel has reached 65.27 percent physical and 58.65 percent as of Chaitra 2083. An agreement has been reached to complete the Siddhababa Tunnel at Dobhan, Tinau Rural Municipality-3, Palpa under the Siddhartha Highway on Chaitra 2083. Since it is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model contract, the construction contractor China State Construction Engineering Corporation will be responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of all the structures under it.

The invert and lining work of the main tunnel under the tunnel has been completed. Out of the 1126-meter tunnel, 1089 meters of the tunnel is in operation. The remaining work is on the north and south ‘portals’. The planning office has stated that 519 meters are from the north and 607 meters from the south. According to Nawaraj Bastola, head of the Siddhababa Tunnel Project Office, the necessary work is being done recently. The work on the 37-meter portals on the north and south sides of the tunnel is currently underway. The width of the main tunnel will be 9.9 meters and the height will be 11.5 meters. There will be 15 jet fans on the two-lane road. The design life is 100 years, said Bastola, head of the planning office.

The tunnel, which can accommodate vehicles at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, will have two lanes in both directions. The blasting and drilling tunnel has three bypasses. The work must be completed within 1,825 days from the start date. The warranty, operation and maintenance of this tunnel is also mentioned in the 5-year agreement. But the hidden defect liability period will be 10 years. The tunnel is being constructed from the Government of Nepal's own resources. Under the plan, 2,398 meters of Siddhartha Highway need to be improved. The main road is 904 meters, the tunnel area is 944 meters, and the main road is under the agreement to improve an additional 550 meters. The

road's rock shed is 780 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 5 meters high. Its lifespan is 100 years. The first bypass is 151 meters, the second is 161 meters, and the third is 130 meters. Its width is 3.43 meters and its height is 4.4 meters.

Two technical buildings are under construction at the north and south entrances. Electricity will be supplied to the tunnel from the south entrance. There will be a lighting system with sensors, while ventilation with sensors will be installed. Signs, video surveillance, and fire identification systems will be installed, informed Chief Bastol. Control, communication, radio, and emergency telephone systems will not be inside the tunnel. There will be earthing, fiber optical cables, copper cable systems, while the building will not have electricity and heating and conditioning, telephones, gates, doors, double floors, or pumping stations.

Rock shed structures will be systematically constructed on the highway, rockfall risk reduction, road repair and rehabilitation, and service operation and maintenance will be carried out for 5 years. He said that the Quality Research and Development Center under the Road Department and the Siddhababa Tunnel Project Office, Butaw, have been monitoring this. Swiss Development Cooperation and consultant Pini Smart Engineering have been providing technical assistance in this. The construction company has stated that the work on the outside will be done only by driving vehicles from inside. The bypass work has been stopped for some time. In Bypass 1, 145 meters out of 151 meters of invert work has been completed. Lining work has also been completed for 144.5 meters. In Bypass 2, 161 meters out of 157.8 meters of invert work has been completed, and lining work has been completed for 157.8 meters. In Bypass 3, 125 meters out of 130 meters of invert work has been completed. The project office has stated that lining work has also been completed for 124.8 meters. The project office has stated that the project office has completed the work on the main tunnel first. Since there are steep slopes and a river at the bottom, it will be difficult to work on the outside, so the project office has to first prepare the road for vehicles to drive through the main tunnel. The construction of the tunnel is being done in 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 to make the road safe in the risky area of ​​Siddhababa area using slope stabilization and rock barrier methods. Stones will be removed in the area of ​​possible accidents, and a strong wire mesh will be laid on the upper part of the mountain. Through which slope protection work has been done in the landslide-prone area. Rock barriers will be built on the mountain as part of the plan. Slope protection work has been completed on 1,495 meters out of 2,300 meters on the south side of the tunnel area.

495 out of 1,100 meters on the north side. Only 481 out of 9,620 meters have been completed on the MR1 mountain side. Project Chief Bastola said that 1,414 square meters out of 7,440 square meters of MR2 Mountain Site have been completed. Work on MR1 Riverside 1360 and MR2 Riverside 500 meters has not progressed.

Under the project package, risk reduction work will be carried out using modern technology on the Chidiakhola-Siddhababa Temple and the road from the northern end of the tunnel to Dobhan. It is claimed that the construction of a 'rock shed' in the Siddhababa area will be the first in the history of road infrastructure. '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. The landslides that fall on the 'rock shed' constructed in this way will reach the river or cliff through the roof.

This will not affect vehicles, drivers, passengers and the road. Vehicles will be able to move freely under the roof. Since there are many landslides at both portals of the tunnel, a 'rock shed' is initially being constructed 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 withstand 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 it at a cost of Rs 7.34 billion including value-added tax. The agreement was signed in Falgun 2078 to complete the project within 5 years.