Road expansion work moving in slow pace

By Kedar Timalsina

Banepa, Jan. 15: Only about 33 per cent of the work on the Suryabinayak–Dhulikhel road expansion along the Araniko Highway has been completed two years after the project got underway. 

With a three-year timeline, concerns have arisen about the timely completion of the project due to slower-than-expected progress in the first two years.

Chief of the Suryabinayak–Dhulikhel Road Project, superintendent engineer Rajendra Prasad Das, said that approximately 33 per cent of the work has been completed. 

He said that 30 per cent of the work on the Suryabinayak–Sanga section and 35 per cent on the Sanga–Dhulikhel section has been completed. 

Das added that tasks such as building retaining walls on the edges and slopes of the road, and constructing incomplete culverts, are ongoing in the road sections under Kavrepalanchok and Bhaktapur districts. 

Work on subgrades is being prepared in areas where retaining walls and culverts have been completed on the Dhulikhel to Banepa section, while retaining walls and incomplete culverts are being built on the Bhaktapur side.

Underpasses are planned near Sanga in Bhaktapur and Pul Bazaar in Banepa as parts of the project. 

Das noted that disputes regarding removing houses, huts, and other structures, as well as issues related to historical structures and temples along the route, have hindered progress.

He further mentioned that disputes over land and structures, particularly in Bhaktapur, have delayed the road expansion. Efforts are underway to resolve those disputes.

Bishnu Prasad Khanal, an engineer with the project, said that after delays due to disputes, road expansion has gained momentum recently. 

He mentioned that a consensus has been reached regarding the construction of a bridge over the Punyamata River in Pul Bazaar, and work on water supply, drainage, and culverts in the Banepa area is being prepared.

Khanal also stated that the bridge design over the Punyamata River was revised to lower its height by approximately two feet following a hydrological study and pointed out that further discussions with local stakeholders are needed.

For the current fiscal year, Rs. 856.6 million was allocated for the Suryabinayak–Dhulikhel road expansion, of which Rs. 489.7 million has been spent so far. 

Das noted that an additional Rs. 1 billion would be required to continue the work smoothly in the current fiscal year.

The government is funding the 16-kilometre road expansion project on the Araniko Highway from Suryabinayak to Dhulikhel. 

The project is divided into two sections, with work beginning two years ago. The 7.5-kilometre Suryabinayak–Sanga section is being constructed by Ashish Kumar Shrestha/Bandhan/Bhagwati JV at a VAT-inclusive cost of Rs. 3.88 billion, starting in Poush, 2079 B.S. 

Meanwhile, Lama Construction is handling the 8.5-kilometre Sanga–Dhulikhel section at a VAT-inclusive cost of Rs. 4.05 billion, starting in Mangshir, 2079 B.S.

The Lama Construction contract for the Sanga–Dhulikhel section is set to conclude in Mangshir, 2082 while the contract for the Suryabinayak–Sanga section is set to end in Poush, 2082.