Pathari section of East-West Highway to be four-lane road

BY HARI PRASAD KOIRALA,Urlabari, Jan. 13: A four-lane road will be constructed along the Pathari Bazaar section in Morang under the East-West Highway Expansion Project, ending months of debate over road standards in the area.

Earlier, residents of Pathari-Shanishchare had requested the main office and the Itahari office of the ADB-supported road project to expand the Pathari Bazaar road according to the same standards applied in the market areas of Urlabari, Belbari, and Sundarharaicha municipalities.

The Asian Highway passes through Urlabari, Pathari-Shanishchare, Belbari, and Sundarharaicha municipalities, as well as Kanepokhari Rural Municipality in Morang. Of the district’s 36-kilometre road section, 10 kilometres fall entirely within forest areas, where four-lane construction is underway. About 60 per cent of the work in this section has been completed. According to the East-West Highway Expansion Project Office (Western Section), Itahari, the detailed project report (DPR) initially proposed a six-lane road with a 50-metre width in urban areas of Morang, a six-lane road with a 33-metre width in semi-urban areas, and a four-lane road with a 24-metre width in rural and forest areas.

Project chief Jagat Prajapati said the Pathari Bazaar section was classified as semi-urban after consultations with local stakeholders at the time. However, after residents demanded last September that the market road be built to urban standards, the project forwarded a proposal to amend the DPR. He said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was not positive about revising the DPR if it required demolishing houses, as such changes would affect loan conditions.

Constructing a 50-metre-wide, six-lane road in Pathari would require demolishing several houses in the market area and completely removing a squatter settlement to the southeast. Prajapati said ADB would have to bear the additional time and costs required for reconstruction, which created complications. He clarified that while a six-lane road would be built within a 33-metre width, it would not include footpaths or drainage.

Pathari-Shanishchare Municipality Mayor Mohan Prasad Tumbapo said that if the project revised and resubmitted the DPR, the municipality would take the responsibility for clearing the roadside area. He stated that if a 50-metre-wide road in the market area was approved, the municipality could clear the site within two months.

Meanwhile, consumers in the Pathari Bazaar area warned that the market would face flooding during the monsoon if the road is not built to full urban standards. Local Yubaraj Baskota said residents do not need a narrower road than those in neighbouring municipalities, adding that Pathari should follow the same standards applied in Urlabari and Sundarharaicha. He warned that constructing a six-lane road without drainage and footpaths would push Pathari’s development back by 50 years.

Another local, Rajendra Bhandari, alleged that despite claims that the DPR could be revised with all-party consensus, the lack of interest from the mayor and ward chairs prevented changes. Ward No. 1 Chairman Bhim Kumar Rai said the DPR had already been revised, but roadside clearance had not begun as official notice had yet to be received. He added that discussions with affected households were still ongoing.

However, project chief Prajapati said that the DPR had not been changed, citing the social impact assessment conducted before construction, which sets thresholds to avoid displacing large squatter settlements. He stated that 18 squatter families currently reside west of the Latiholi Bridge in Ward No. 1.