Kathmandu. The Sanga-Dhulikhel road expansion project under the upgradation of the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road section of the Araniko Highway is to be resumed.

The work, which was stalled for about one and a half years, is now coming into operation. An agreement has been reached between the victim’s side, the road construction company, the mayor, deputy mayor and the chief administrative officer of the municipality. Shanti Ratna Shakya, mayor of Banepa municipality, said that the construction works would be continued.

He further said that the digital survey map of Sanga-Dhulikhel road section under the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road project has already been implemented.

It was also decided to proceed with the construction of the road within the road limits without reducing the design standard. Surya Binayak Dhulikhel Road Project Chief Bijay Kumar Mahato, Banepa Municipality Mayor Shakya, Deputy Mayor Bimala Sapkota, ward chairpersons, concerned locals, representatives of Kavre Chamber of Commerce and Industry, district-based Survey Office and construction companies were present on the occasion. Locals had demanded the municipality and the project to carry out works by maintaining uniformity in all the places occupied by the Araniko Highway in the municipality and for the management of sewerage.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the expansion of the Sanga-Dhulikhel road section, the first section of the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road section under the Araniko Highway, is still to be completed. According to the agreement, 40 percent of the extension is incomplete with the remaining two weeks. An agreement was signed on December 12, 2079 BS to expand the first section of the Sanga-Dhulikhel road section from Suryabinayak of Bhaktapur to Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchowk.

Lama Construction Pvt Ltd was awarded the contract for the expansion of the road at a cost of Rs 4.05 billion. According to the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel, Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas road project, only 60 per cent of the road construction has been completed in the past three years. So far, around one kilometer road has been blacktopped in Dhulikhel area while blacktopping is taking place in Pulbazaar-Janagal area.

According to the project, around 50 per cent work has been completed in two sections from Suryabinayak to Dhulikhel. According to project chief Bijay Kumar Mahato, 60 per cent of the first section of the Sanga-Dhulikhel project and 42 per cent of the Suryabinayak-Sanga section has been completed. According to him, six houses of some places are yet to be demolished along the Suryabinayak-Sanga road section.

The project was awarded Rs 3.88 billion for the 7.5-km Suryabinayak-Sanga section of the second section of the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road widening project. The contract of the section is also expiring on January 3. “Discussions are underway with contractors to extend the deadline for expansion of both sections and complete it by mid-July,” Mahato said.