October 22: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the Nagdhunga-Naubise Tunnel amid a function at Chandargiri Municipality on Monday, October 21.

During the ceremony, the prime minister expressed special appreciation towards the Government of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for their support in constructing this landmark project said to be the first tunnel of Nepal.

PM Oli expressed his belief that this breakthrough project will immensely help in improving the trading of goods through smooth vehicular movement for commercial activities and bring prosperity in the economic condition of the country, JICA said in a statement.

The Nagdhunga Tunnel Construction Project is a loan project funded by the Government of Japan where JICA is the development partner providing loan assistance of Japanese yen worth 16.636 billion.

According to the statement, the objective of the project is to improve the road condition around Nagdhunga pass by constructing a tunnel, thereby contributing to achieve a smooth transportation network between Kathmandu and other principal cities in Nepal.

JICA further said that the commencement of this tunnel project will be the first of its kind in Nepal. The highway will have two lanes of 2.7 kilometers in length and is  expected to reduce the time to clear Nagdhunga Pass to one-third of the current time (currently 30 minutes when heading east and 20 minutes w

The executing agency for this project is the Ministry for Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the construction period is expected to be around 3.5 years.

Last month, the ministry had signed a contract with Hazma Ando Corporation of Japan to undertake this project.