Kavrepalanchowk. The work of upgrading the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road section along the Araniko Highway, which was halted due to rain, has been resumed. According to the project, the process of pitching has been started in Janagal area of Banepa Municipality-10 of Kavrepalanchowk.

Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel, Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas road project said that the work of ‘CTB’ is underway to pitch the road. Project engineer Bishnu Prasad Khanal informed that the work of ‘CTB’ has started from Janagal to Sanga via Bhainsepati. According to him, the expansion work was halted earlier due to monsoon in the months of June and July.

However, work in Pulbazar area of Banepa has been stalled for nearly six months due to obstruction by locals. The expansion work was halted after locals blocked the centre line in an area of about 200 meters in the area. It is said that the construction work is being carried out on 140 feet out of 75 to 75 feet (150 feet) on the right side of the center line.

Earlier, efforts were made to remove the obstruction in coordination with various agencies, but the problem has not been solved. At present, the construction work of about one kilometer road from Chandeshwari Khola to Banepa Chardobato on the eastern side of Banepa is underway. Khanal said that work is underway on a short section from Suryabinayak to Dhulikhel except Pulbazar. According to him, the work of wall, drain and pavement has been completed in one kilometer area and preparations are underway to blacktop the road in a few days as the work in Dhulikhel area is gaining momentum. A house at 28 Kilo in Dhulikhel is yet to be removed and the high-tension line pole of the electricity is yet to be shifted in some places.

Meanwhile, the six-lane road from Suryabinayak of Bhaktapur to Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchowk along the Araniko Highway has not been completed in time. The project has said that the expansion work will not be completed within the remaining five months.

The 16-km-long road, which was started from January 24, 2019, was targeted to be completed within 36 months. The road section from Suryabinayak to Sanga and Sanga to Dhulikhel has been divided into two sections.

Of the two sections, 37 per cent of the suryabinayak-Sanga section and 50 per cent of the Sanga-Dhulikhel section have been completed, khanal said. The sanga-Dhulikhel section has been delayed due to disputes over individual houses including bridges in the urban area of Banepa and the failure to demolish the houses within the standards and about 65 percent of the physical construction work will be completed by the deadline.

Under the project, an agreement was signed for the expansion of the 8.4-km road section from Sanga to Dhulikhel in the first phase at a cost of Rs 4.05 billion in the first phase and Rs 3.88 billion for the Suryabinayak-Sanga road section started in the second phase. The four-lane expansion has been started as traffic congestion is increasing every year due to narrow roads.