By Sanchita Ghimire, Kathmandu, July 25: Nine out of 10 feeder roads under the Postal Highway have been completed.    

The remaining one road is under construction in two packages, said project chief Rohit Kumar Bisural. Of the two packages, one has been completed and the Indian Embassy has handed over the project to the government of Nepal.    

“Contracts have been awarded to construct the remaining road,” he said. Under the project, eastern Tarai links west-northern to south Tarai. With the completion of the project, Tarai-Madhes has been benefited in many ways, he said.    

Under the project, the completed roads are- 25-km Kanepokhari-Ranbeni road in Morang and the 22-km Kalyanpur-Basain road in Saptari, 25-km Birendrabazaar-Yadukuwa-Mahinathapur and the 17-km Janakpur-Yadukuwa road in Dhanusha, 27-km Jaleshwor-Hardi road and 25-km Maithan-Gaushala bazaar-Samsi road in Mahottari, 33-km Lamahi-Koilabas road in Dang and 40-km Tamagadhi-Simraunagadh road and the 33-km Manamat-Kalaiya-Matiawara road in Bara.    

Under the widening of the road in Kalaiya, construction on four kilometres has been halted due to compensation row over land acquisition for the project, he said. The government of India funded the road. Now, the Nepal government has issued a notice regarding a contract to complete the road, he said, adding that the construction would begin soon.    

Under the construction of the Birgunj-Thori road, blacktopping up to five kilometres remains to be completed, he said.    

Construction of 60-km road started in two packages. The first package (25 kilometres) has been completed and another remains to be completed, he said. It aims to complete the remaining construction in three months, he said.    

The National Planning Commission has aimed to complete the Postal Highway in the fiscal year, 2079/80 BS. The completion target would be timely achieved given the present situation of the construction, he added.    

He however said that the completion target could not be met due to ongoing COVID-19.