Conceived more than two decades ago, Hulaki Rajmarga, or Postal Highway, has been considered as the conveyor of development across 20 districts of the Terai region. Initially, the 1,792-km long Postal Highway was sought to be built at the financial and technical assistance of India. But, there were inordinate delays on the part of India to release fund for the construction of the highway that will serve as the alternative to the East-West Highway. It started in the fiscal year 2065/66 BS with both India and Nepal government providing funding to its construction. Its initial cost estimate stood at Rs. 47.24 billion but it was revised at Rs. 65.20 million. Bearing in mind its economic, social and cultural importance, the Postal Highway was categorised as pride project and the government swung into action to meet its construction deadline.

To date, about 57 per cent of construction works have been completed and the remaining are being carried out on a war-footing. Unlike the single East-West Highway, the Postal Highway has been divided into various portions in the given districts through which it passes. It begins at Kechana Kawal of Jhapa in far-east and ends at Dodhara of Kanchanpur in far-west. The government has accorded top priority to the highway expected to boost connectivity, number of townships and jobs for the locals. According to a news report of this daily, the authorities have called for expediting the construction of postal highway in Kapilvastu in west Terai. The other day, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport monitored the ongoing construction of postal highway in the district and praised the construction company for maintaining the quality standard of the road.

Although the construction works were given continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, only 12 per cent project time line has been finished. It started in 2075 BS and is supposed to be completed by Mangsir of 2079 BS. The stakeholders have been asked to sort out the problems that hit the workflow. Now the construction of 50.5 kilometre stretch of highway is underway, which covers district headquarters Taulihawa to Turantapur of Shivaraj Municipality. Six large scale bridges are to be built along the road, out of which only one has been built so far. The government has allocated Rs. 3.88 billion for its construction. It is natural that local people are upbeat about the economic and commercial prospects of the vital infrastructure.

Even if the Terai belt has plain land, there has not been smooth connectivity. With the completion of the postal highway, all the villages in the Terai belt will be linked with the district headquarters and the people will have an easy access to the areas bordering India. In addition to the enhanced commercial activities, the Highway will bring the people closer through social and cultural integration. It will lessen the dependence of East-West Highway and open new opportunities in the field of trade, agriculture and industry. Therefore, it is imperative for the meaningful coordination among the three-tier governments - federal, provincial and local – to give a momentum to the highway construction so that it will be completed within the given timeframe.