Khotang. The construction of the shortest road connecting various districts of the eastern Terai from Diktel Bazaar, the main commercial center of the district, has reached its final stage.
The construction of the 14.5-kilometer road from Ahale in Khalle, Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality-4 to Regmitar in Halesi Tuwachung Municipality-11 Rajapani has reached its final stage. Mayor Tirtha Raj Bhattarai said that once the road is completed, the obligation to travel from Diktel to Regmitar via Mahure-Buipa-Bijayakharka-Rajapani will end.
‘Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality has started the construction of the road from the fiscal year 2079/80 under the Gaurav project. Only 500 meters are left to be constructed. We are planning to complete this road connecting the Eastern Terai within a month,’ he said, ‘The municipality has already spent Rs 8.5 million on the construction of the Diktel-Regmitar road. The Koshi Province government has provided a budget of Rs 4 million for this road for this fiscal year.’
It is stated that Rs 4 million was allocated by the municipality for the construction of this road in the fiscal year 2079/80 and Rs 2 million was allocated in 2080/81. Khalle Ward Chairman Khagendra Rai informed that the construction of the Diktel-Khanidanda-Regmitar road is being carried out at a rapid pace through the allocated budget in partnership with the municipality and the provincial government.
The locals are happy after the municipality accelerated the construction of the Diktel-Khanidanda-Regmitar road by placing it under the Gaurav project. As an alternative to the under-construction road, last year, transportation was operated to Regmitar via Purona Village in Halesi Tuwachung Municipality-11 Rajapani.
After the opening of the Diktel-Regmitar road, the road upgrading work will continue from next year, said Deputy Mayor Bishan Rai.
‘When the Diktel-Khanidanda-Regmitar road is operational, it will be about an hour shorter. We are preparing to operate this road,’ he said. ‘The Diktel-Mahure-Regmitar road is winding. After the construction of the Diktel-Khanidanda-Regmitar road is completed, it will become the most suitable road connecting various districts of the Eastern Terai.’
The then District Development Committee Khotang had tried to open a direct route (track) from Ahale to Ghartibhir in Rajapani and from Regmitar to Ghartibhir on the Diktel-Gaighat road section of the Sagarthama National Highway.
The tracks on both sides have not been connected so far due to a large rock on Ghartibhir. The Diktel-Regmitar road is 59 kilometers long, with the Diktel-Mahure road, which has been blacktopped, 20 kilometers long, and the Mahure-Rajapani-Regmitar road, which is under blacktopping, 29 kilometers long.
The Diktel-Khanidanda-Ahale-Regmitar road under construction is 17.5 kilometers shorter than the Diktel-Mahure-Rajapani-Regmitar road. Three Star Hydropower Company has constructed a road from Dikhuwa Khola to the old village of Rajapani.
Local businessmen have said that if regular transport is operated on the under-construction Diktel-Khanidanda-Regmitar road, the cost of transporting daily necessities including food, hardware, fuel and other items in the district will decrease by Rs 2 to 5 per kg.
Meanwhile, the Diktel-Khanidanda-Ahale road has recently been blacktopped. The 10.974-kilometer-long road was blacktopped with an investment of Rs 211.88 crore by the National Reconstruction Authority.
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