Jhapa. The upgrading work of the 45-kilometer eastern section of the East-West Highway under construction from Kakadbhitta to Padajungi under the Asian Highway is progressing slowly. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, the Road Department’s Project Directorate is upgrading the road in that section as an Asian Highway through a contract.
Evrascon Kalika JV has been awarded the construction contract. E. Sunilbabu Pant, Project Chief of the Kakadbhitta-Laukahi Road Project (Eastern Section) Damak Office, said that the progress of the road upgrading has been only 15 percent so far. According to him, based on the construction period, at least 20 percent progress should have been made so far.
Avrascon Kalika JV had signed an agreement with the government on 2080 Kartik 2 for the construction of the road, and the agreement states that the construction work should be completed by 2083 Magh 19. Project Chief Pant said that the company that took the contract has been instructed to speed up the construction work and meet the target. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had formally laid the foundation stone of the road at Padajungi in Kamal Rural Municipality on 2081 Jestha 9.
If only 12 percent progress was made in the first year of the road construction agreement and significant progress is not made this year either, it will be difficult to complete the project within the next one year and 10 months. ‘The weather is also favorable for work now,’ Pant said, pressing Avrascon Kalika JV to speed up the work. ‘The construction company has not been working at the pace it should have. We are putting pressure on it.’
Currently, work is underway on culverts, bridges and soil filling. So far, 93 out of 143 culverts have been completed. 17 out of 18 small bridges are being constructed. The company is also using state-of-the-art equipment in the construction work. So far, the construction progress of the bridge is only 13 percent. The contract for the culverts and small bridges along with the road has been awarded at a cost of 34.9 billion rupees with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank and in partnership with the Government of Nepal.
Another company has been awarded the contract for the bridges at Kankai, Biring and Nindakhola. Pant, the head of the Kakadbhitta-Laukahi Road Project (Eastern Section) Damak office, said that instructions have been given to increase the pace of work before that as it will be difficult to work after the rains. The project aims to blacktop at least 10 kilometers of the highway in the current fiscal year.
The project has stated that the construction of the ‘Elephant Underpass’ in the Charali forest of that road section is also underway. The project head Pant informed that the ‘Elephant Underpass’ is being constructed as per the government’s wildlife-friendly infrastructure construction standards. According to him, the ‘Elephant Underpass’ is being built with a height of six and a half meters and a length of 15 meters. Which will be one and a half meters higher than the road under construction.
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