Mountains. The Kaligandaki Highway, a national pride project connecting north and south, has collapsed. The road at Phalebas municipality-11, Pangrang along the highway collapsed on Thursday. There is a problem in the repair of the road after it collapsed.

The road is getting dilapidated due to the problem of sinking, overflowing and potholes in the blacktopped area. The 70-km section of the Kaligandaki Highway has been blacktopped along the Setibeni-Falebas section of the highway which has not been repaired.

The road along the Pangrang section of the corridor has caved due to incessant rainfall. The road sinking and collapsing in the places where the highway construction work has been completed has not stopped during the rainy season.

It has been difficult to operate vehicles after the road collapsed. Engineer at Kaligandaki Corridor Project Office, Palpa, Pipul Gautam, informed that vehicles are operating one-way traffic at present.

Locals have been complaining that the road has not been repaired regularly. Although most of the road construction works from Setibeni to Kurgha have been completed, the construction of some sections of the road is still in limbo. The road connecting Kurgha to Pangrang is in a dilapidated condition.

Engineer Gautam said that there is a problem in the maintenance and maintenance of the project in the absence of the responsible authority. According to him, the Department of Roads has not been able to carry out maintenance and other works as it has not been listed in the National Road Network.

Two years have already passed since the blacktopping of the 29-km road along the Parbat section was completed. Engineer Gautam said that there is no clarity on which agency will take care of the road and there is problem in maintenance and maintenance of the road.

All the sections from Setibeni to Falebas Dhik in Parbat section have been blacktopped. According to him, there is a problem regarding which agency will repair and maintain the blacktopped section as it has not been listed as the national highway. According to the office, it will be difficult to clear the landslide that occurred during the rainy season if it has been completed.

Construction of 43-km road from Setibeni to Armadi of Parbat is going on at a rapid pace. Similarly, the blacktopping of the 14-km Falebas-Armadi road has not been carried out due to the negligence of the construction company. According to the office, the tender for blacktopping work could not be called for the construction of the section on time and the budget for the current fiscal year has not been secured.

Similarly, the 10-km road from Mirmi of Syangja to Setibeni of Parbat is being blacktopped while the 13-km road from Maldhunga to Beni of Myagdi will be completed within the current fiscal year.