The ministry has provided this amount as the project aims to complete the first layer of blacktopping of a 15.8-kilometer road section within the current fiscal year. The project has stated that an additional Rs 1 billion will be required in addition.
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The Ministry of Finance has provided Rs 200 million for the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road expansion project along the Araniko Highway. The ministry has provided the amount as the project aims to complete the first layer of blacktop on the 15.8-kilometer road section in the current fiscal year. The project has stated that it will require another Rs 1 billion.
The additional amount has been sought after the budget allocated for this 6-lane road expansion connecting Bhaktapur and Kavre in the current fiscal year was insufficient. The project had requested Rs 3 billion in the current fiscal year. Only Rs 700 million was allocated for road and bridge construction. Of this, Rs 600 million was allocated for road expansion and Rs 100 million for bridge construction.
The project stated that even though the amount was insufficient, an additional Rs 150 million was received during the construction process, but work equivalent to that amount has been completed. Bijay Kumar Mahato, head of the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road project, said that the additional amount required has been sent to the Ministry of Finance through the Road Department.
‘The target is to complete the first level of blacktop in both sections in the current fiscal year,’ he said, ‘Accordingly, 1 billion rupees are required in the current fiscal year.’ He said that there is a problem in getting bitumen due to the increase in the price of petroleum products due to the Iran-US/Israel war. ‘Even if you get bitumen, you have to pay a high price,’ he said, ‘this seems to affect the construction, due to which the pace of work has also slowed down a bit.’
One of the two sections that has been contracted is Suryabinayak-Sanga. The distance of this section is 7.5 km. The contract for this section was taken by Ashish-Kumar Shrestha-Bandhan Bhagwati JV on 24 Paush 2079. The contract amount for this section is 3 billion 889.3 million rupees, and the progress is 48 percent. This section has not been blacktopped and 2 km is being blacktopped. 1 km of underpass is being built in the Sanga section and 60 percent of the work is complete. Chief Mahato says that vehicles will be able to move through the underpass before the coming monsoon. The deadline expired on 10 December and has been extended until 11 February 2083.
Another section under construction is Sanga-Dhulikhel. The distance of this section is 8.3 km and the construction progress is 68 percent. 2.5 km of the road has been blacktopped. The project reported that 3 km of the 6-lane road has been blacktopped. The contract for this section was awarded to Lama Construction on 10 December 2079 for 4.56 billion rupees. The deadline expired on 10 December and has now been extended until 11 December 2083. So far, the construction progress of the overall project is 56 percent.
Separate contracts have been awarded for the 3 bridges in this road section. The contract for the bridge has been awarded by Himdung & Thokar-Ramjanaki JV. While the road construction is more than half complete, the construction of the bridge has not yet gained momentum. The project reported that the contract for the 3 bridges was awarded in a single package.
The construction of 2 bridges is finally underway. Only one bridge is being worked on. The contract was awarded under the design and build technique. According to the agreement signed on 6 Chaitra 2079, the construction of the bridges should be completed by 5 Asoj 2082. The contract amount for the 3 bridges, including VAT, is Rs 575 million. After the work was not completed within the contract period, the deadline has now been extended until 5 Mangsir 2083.
The Jagati Bridge is in Bhaktapur and Punyamata and the Mahadev Khola Bridge is in Kavre. Work is underway on the Mahadev Khola Bridge and the construction progress is 12 percent. The project stated that the construction of the Punyamata and Jagati bridges has finally begun after reconsidering the initial design.
