Highway expansion work to face 15-day disruption

By Hari Koirala,Urlabari, Feb. 25: The expansion of the East-West Highway is going to be disrupted for around 15 days due to the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5.

The highway expansion, being carried out with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is currently progressing at a rapid pace. However, to ensure a conducive election environment, the Election Commission (EC) has proposed three days of public holidays.

The disruption will be further compounded by the Fagu, the festival of colour, widely celebrated across the Tarai, which falls during the same period.

Jagat Prajapati, chief of the western section office of the East-West Highway Expansion Project (Kakarbhitta-Laukahi section) in Itahari, said most of the road construction workers are from the Tarai region.

“Fagu affected the work last year as well. This year, with Fagu followed immediately by the election, work is likely to be halted for nearly two weeks,” he said.

According to Prajapati, favourable weather conditions had helped achieve significant physical progress over the past two months. Under Contract Package No. 2, the 40-kilometre stretch from Sitapuri in Jhapa to Salakpur in Morang falls within the western section, where physical progress has reached 35.25 per cent.

Similarly, under Contract Package No. 3, the 10.760-kilometre road from Salakpur to Lavipur has achieved 16.27 per cent physical progress.

Three bridges, each 300 metres long, in the western section -- over the Ratuwa, Bakraha and Lohondra rivers -- have been contracted separately. Construction of these bridges has reached 29.19 per cent physical progress.

So far, 5 km of the one-lane road on the left side and 6.23 km on the right side have been blacktopped in the western section. Blacktopping is currently underway on an additional 5 km stretch. The project aims to complete blacktopping of 10 km of road in the forest area before the election holidays.

In the construction area of Contract Package No. 2, only 247 out of 1,641 electricity poles have been removed, although all must eventually be permanently removed.

Likewise, only 291 of the 1,550 poles that need to be relocated have been shifted so far. However, the installation of new poles is progressing rapidly. Of the 2,279 poles required along the 40-km stretch, 1,523 have already been installed.

Overall, 5,470 electricity poles in this section needed to be installed, relocated or permanently removed. To date, work on 2,061 poles has been completed, representing just 37.7 per cent of the physical progress in pole-related works.

Under Contract Package No. 3, a total of 1,968 poles need to be installed, relocated or removed. So far, 791 poles have been managed, achieving 40.2 per cent physical progress.

Of the 692 new poles required, 403 have been installed. Similarly, 194 of the 638 poles earmarked for relocation have been shifted, while the same number have been permanently removed.

The entire road project is scheduled for completion by November 2026. The work will accelerate once the relocation of electricity poles is completed, Prajapati said.

Under the East-West Highway expansion, blacktopping is currently underway from Pathari East to Sunjhodha in Morang.