According to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW), it will take one more year to complete the track opening of the 1,767 km highway as obstructions in some districts of the Mid-Western Region have led to delays.
Government officials said locals from Dailekh, Jajarkot and Rukum hindered the project due to lack of awareness on their part.
“We had planned to complete the track opening by mid-July this year,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, joint secretary at the MoPPW. “However, work could not progress as planned in the Mid-Western Region.”
The Mid-Hill Highway will connect the country’s eastern and western regions through the middle part of the country. Construction work started in 2007-08. The budget for the current fiscal year has allocated Rs 1.21 billion for the project. However, the ministry said that work in eastern Nepal was progressing at a fast pace. As the project has used up the Rs 900 million allocated by the budget, the MoPPW has asked the Finance Ministry for an additional Rs 250 million from other headings for this high-priority project.
“We are awaiting the Finance Ministry’s approval for the budget transfer,” said an MoPPW source.
The highway, named Pushpa Lal Highway after the founding general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal, connects Chiyo Bhanjyang of Pachthar district in the east with Jhulaghat of Baitadi district in the west. Out of the highway’s total length, track opening has been completed on 1,516 km. The project will require an additional Rs 35 billion for blacktopping, according to the MoPPW. As per the approved alignment, the highway passes through 12 zones, 24 districts, and 215 VDCs and serves nearly seven million people.
As per the plan of the Department of Roads, a 7-metre width of the road will be blacktopped, there will be a 0.5-metre wide gravelled shoulder on either side, and 1 metre will be used for drainage.
No comments:
Post a Comment