Chitwan. The Narayangadh-Butwal road section, which had suffered a lot during the seven years since the construction of the road, has become very easy now.

It usually takes only two hours to reach Butwal from Narayangadh. However, some private drivers say that they have crossed this road in one hour and 30 minutes.

Last year, some people had to spend the night on this road due to the road of Daunne. I have to travel east-west during the rainy season and festivals, but I have not even been able to go home during some festivals.

Gas industrialist Bimal Kalakheti shared his experience in Narayangadh from Butwal in one hour and 30 minutes last week. According to him, the road is smooth and there is no obstruction anywhere. Industrialist Prakash Acharya of Tilottama municipality-4 in Rupandehi district said he reached home in one hour and 50 minutes from Narayangadh. He said, “It came very fast when I came in a private vehicle with my family. All the sorrows of the past have now been forgotten by the road. Recalling that I used to face long traffic jam in Daunne while travelling in the past, Acharya said, “I had to walk from Narayangadh at 6 pm and reached home at 10 am the next morning. ”

He said that he has suffered many times. According to him, the road is now wide and of high quality. Journalist Prakash Gyawali, who reached Narayangadh from Butwal on Wednesday, said that in the past, it took more than 12 hours to cross the same road. He recalled spending 12 hours on the road with his family from Bharatpur to celebrate Dashain with his parents at Sainamaina of Rupandehi. “We had a painful journey on the road for almost seven years and yesterday I reached Narayangadh from Butwal in two hours,” he said. ”

An employee of Bharatpur said that he reached Chauraha Chowk of Butwal in one hour 44 minutes from Narayangadh in his private vehicle. He said that he reached the time even after defecating at two places on the way. Passengers coming from Butwal-Palpa and other parts of the road were compelled to come via Pokhara due to problems on this road. Some people had also used the Kaligandaki corridor route. There were also many people coming to Chitwan from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu by air. Some of them used to go to Pokhara from Bhairahawa and come to Chitwan. Bhuwan Baral, chairman of Chautari Yatayat Sewa Pvt Ltd, said that the road which used to remain in traffic jam even at night in the past has now reached within three hours even while dropping and boarding the passengers.

He said, “In the past, there was a compulsion to repair and break the road every day while operating vehicles on this road section. This road, which used to cause a lot of problems to many during the rainy season, has now become a mess. Engineer Shiva Khanal of the eastern section of the Narayangadh-Butwal Road Project said that around 92 percent of the construction of the road has been completed. He said only road safety and repairing drains in some places remained. Butwal is 113.35 km from Narayangadh.

The road was divided into two sections. Both contracts have been awarded to the same Chinese contractor. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing 85 per cent concessional loan and the Government of Nepal has 15 per cent investment in the project. The construction of the project was awarded the contract by the Chinese government company ‘China State Construction’ and the construction of the project had started on March 21, 2018. Initially, the project was supposed to be completed within 42 months, but the deadline has been extended time and again.

The 65 km long Narayangadh-Daunne section has been termed as the eastern section and the 49 km long Daunne-Butwal section has been termed as the western section. The Narayangadh-Butwal road section has been expanded from two lanes to four lanes. Six lanes have been constructed in the settlements. A 28-km section of the market area has been upgraded to six lanes and other areas to four lanes.