East-West Highway expansion work moving at snail's pace

By Janarjan Khatri,Sarlahi, Mar. 24: The expansion of the East-West Highway, a national pride project, has failed to gain momentum. 

The work under the Kamala–Dhalkeber–Pathlaiya road project (Eastern section) to convert the highway into a four-lane road is ongoing in Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha districts.

However, the pace of work has been extremely slow. Both the project office and the construction companies have admitted that the pace of road expansion is slower than anticipated. 

According to the agreement, 29 per cent of the work should have been completed by now, but the project has only achieved an average of 19 per cent progress across the three districts, as reported by Ramthal Yadav, the project information officer and engineer. 

Although the Dhanusha section has seen slightly more progress, the work in Sarlahi and Mahottari is much slower.

The construction companies were initially unable to proceed with the work due to delays in tree cutting. 

Currently, 11,577 trees have been cut across the three districts within the highway’s jurisdiction. 

However, the relocation of electricity poles has been progressing at a slow pace, preventing the construction companies from accelerating the road expansion work.

In the 130 km of the East-West Highway from Kamala Bridge in Dhanusha to Pathlaiya in Bara, the work is only ongoing in the eastern section, specifically on the 74.75 km stretch from Kamala–Dhalkeber–Bagmati. The contracts for the Bara and Rautahat sections are still pending.

Rajesh Kumar Das, project head and senior divisional engineer for the Kamala–Dhalkeber–Pathlaiya road project (Eastern section), acknowledged the various challenges that have slowed down the highway expansion. 

“The main challenge has been the relocation of electricity poles,” said Das. “Additionally, the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict has led to a rise in prices of fuel and construction material, which is likely to further slow down progress.”

Construction companies have also voiced similar concerns. Prahalad Dhungana, project manager at IKC Infrastructure Limited India, complained that the delay in relocating the electricity poles has hindered the rapid execution of the work. 

He also pointed out that major festivals, extremely cold weather and the subsequent general elections had caused repeated interruptions in the work.

Currently, the East-West Highway, which is a two-lane road, is being upgraded to a four-lane road according to Asian standards, with a width of 18 metres. The central part of the road will have a four-metre-wide median, dividing it into two lanes on each side.

After much effort, the Nepal Electricity Authority has awarded the contract for relocating the electricity poles, and work is now expected to progress faster. 

The regional office of the Nepal Electricity Authority in Janakpur, through local distribution centres in Sarlahi, Mahottari and Dhanusha, has started the work of relocating poles. 

Suraj Dhungel, head of the Lalbandi Distribution Centre, responsible for relocating poles from Bagmati to Banke, said that the 

initial step involves installing new poles and wires before removing the old ones.

“We’ve been working quickly after receiving full responsibility for the Sarlahi section,” said Dhungel. 

“Initially, we had trouble relocating poles due to the delay in tree cutting, but for the past three weeks, work has been progressing rapidly,” he added. 

With financial support of Rs. 18.6 billion from the World Bank, the Eastern section of the highway is expected to be completed by 2027. 

The project to upgrade the highway began on December 31, 2025 with simultaneous work starting from three places: Kamala Bridge in Dhanusha, Badhari in Mahottari, and Phuljor in Sarlahi.

The first lot, Kamala–Badhari (22.07 km), has been contracted to IKC Infrastructure Limited India for Rs. 5.8 billion.  

The second lot, Badhari–Phuljor (29.74 km), and the third lot, Phuljor–Badhari (22.94 km), have been awarded to the Chinese 

company SWEJ and Rasuwa Construction Company RCC Joint Venture, with a contract value of Rs. 12.8 billion, according to the Kamala–Dhalkeber–Pathlaiya road project (Eastern section).

Although the road is being expanded to four lanes, in market and commercial areas, it will include service lanes on both sides, each 6.5 metres wide, resulting in a total width of 31 metres.

Additionally, overpasses will be constructed in areas like Birendra Bazaar in Dhanusha, Lalbandi, Nawalpur, Hariban, and Naya Road in Sarlahi.