The road expansion work on East-West Highway from Butwal to Gorusinge has been accelerated. On the 11th of January, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the road virtually and Deputy Prime Minister Prakashman Singh and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel were physically present. The work of felling the roadside trees for road expansion has been completed. According to the project, the work of moving some electricity poles in Kapilvastu section has reached the final stage and construction of bridges at 10 places is going on in full swing.

According to Road Project Office Engineer Kulshata Neupan, out of the 30 km section in Rupandehi area and 20 km section in Kapilvastu area under the first phase, 6 bridges towards Rupandehi and 4 bridges in Kapilvastu section have progressed rapidly.

"The work of cutting trees and removing electricity poles in Rupandehi section has been completed by 95%". However, the work of removing some electricity poles in the Kapilvastu area remains,' she said, 'after that, the retaining wall and culvert construction will also start immediately.' The project started its work by establishing a field office in Kapilstu.

According to the field office, the work under the first phase is now underway. According to which, the road will be extended by 30 km in Rupandehi and 20 km in Kapilvastu. Engineer Neupane said that work will be done under the second phase in the Gorusinge-Chandrauta section of another 19 km distance. According to him, 20  And 30 bridges of 10 will be constructed in Kapilvastu section. A contract was signed with the construction company for the road expansion work in June, but the contract came into effect on October 4, according to the office.  The

construction company started work from the last week of December. So far, the construction company has received 15 percent of the contract amount, said Rajendra Acharya, information officer of the road project. "Mobilization cost is 10 percent and the project office has paid 5 percent for the contract so far, 15 percent has been paid," he said, "The next payment will be based on the progress of the work." Among them, about 300 trees are left to be cut, said Jigesh Prasad Chaudhary, site engineer of Kapilvastu. According to him, there will be 6 VOP underpasses under the 50 km road. He said that the four-lane road will go straight and will go back and forth through the under pass through the service lane road. Such underpasses will be built at Belbas, Naigaon, Tamnagar Chowk in Butwal,' he said, 'Similarly, underpasses will be constructed at Murgia, Kapilvastu in Sainamaina.'

Consumers and stakeholders are putting pressure on the builders not to rush to demolish the Butwal Gorusinge road after learning from the incident of dust flying during the expansion of the Butwal-Narayangadh road and causing hardship to the locals and passengers. State Assembly Member Bishnu Panthi, elected from Kapilvastu, said that the request was made to demolish the old road only after completing all necessary procedural work for road expansion.

'After demolishing the road, we are pushing to demolish it so that it can be constructed immediately, the builders are also working accordingly,' he said, 'Our pressure is constant for the smooth travel of the citizens and passengers on the road. "The work has been accelerated so much that the condition seen today will not be seen tomorrow when traveling on the same road," he said, "a lot has changed." Also, he said, they are giving pressure and suggestions to work at a faster pace.