November 12: China State Engineering Corporation, the Chinese contractor company assigned to expand the 114-km Butwal-Naryangadh road section, has completed  only around ten percent works in three years. It has sought for extension of deadline as only nine months remains for the completion of the project.

The Department of Roads had reached an understanding with the Chinese company to expand the road within three and a half years. Around three years have elapsed but the work of Narayangarh-Butwal road expansion project is moving at a snail's pace. Only ten percent of the project's work has been completed.

A Korean consulting company is currently evaluating its deadline extension application. The consultant will extend the proposed deadline by two years only after conducting necessary evaluation. If the deadline is extended, the cost of the project is also expected to rise.

The project with the total estimated cost of Rs 16 billion is being expanded in two sections- east and west sections. Pradipraj Shakya, project head of the west section, said cutting down trees on project site consumed time and the COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the expansion project.

"After the contract was signed, it took almost a year to get permission to cut down the trees and remove the electricity poles from the road side. Soon after outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, prohibitory orders enforced to contain the pandemic restricted the movement of Chinese workers which impacted the construction. However, expansion has moved ahead after the Dashain festival," he said. The government has put forward plans to widen the east-west highway to four lanes and roads connecting bigger cities to six lanes. 

The project is running with concessional loan provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). However, Shakya said that some municipalities have started pressuring for the construction of six lane roads in small areas as well. If this issue is addressed the total cost of the project will definitely increase.

Out of the total estimated cost, only four percent has been spent so far. He claimed that such expenditure would reach 35 percent by the end of the current fiscal year. The government aims to upgrade the East-West Highway into four lanes within five years. The East-West Highway, built in 1960, sees heavy vehicular movement everyday.