Kavrepalanchok. Up-gradation of Dhulikhel-Khawa road section of Kavrepalanchowk section of Araniko Highway has resumed. According to the Division Road Office, Bhaktapur, the re-upgradation work has started after the agreement was signed with the new construction company last November.

According to the office, an agreement was signed with CNA-1 Kali JV by calling for a re-tender to complete the work in 14 months. Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh, chief of the office, said that the contract was signed for Rs 31.56 crore excluding VAT.

According to him, in the first phase, blacktopping would be completed in a wide area by coming April and the remaining works would be completed in the stipulated time. The expansion work has started with cutting in different places. The delay in the construction of the highway has made the journey difficult for the past three years. Bhaktapur had called for tender for the expansion of the road with the beginning of the current fiscal year. The office had called for tender again in August last year, four and a half months after canceling the old contract.

According to Yogesh, the new construction company is hopeful that the new construction company will complete the four-kilometer road section on time. According to him, the contractors have filed a case at the Patan High Court immediately after the office annulled the contract with the Gauri-Parbati Construction Service Company for not completing the road on time.

Senior Divisional Engineer Yogesh said that the process to reopen the contract has been initiated as per the court’s order after the case was dismissed on July 25. “We had reached to the conclusion to cancel the contract after the company did not find it satisfactory, credible and credible despite the explanation given in writing at that time. “The office has terminated the contract with Gauri-Parbati Construction Service on February 29, 11 months after the expiry of the deadline of the agreement,” he said.

The Araniko Highway serves as the main road leading to Tatopani of Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Ramechhap and other districts via the Araniko Highway. Commuters are compelled to travel through dust, mud, traffic jam and the risk of accidents. The contract for the expansion of the road from district headquarters Dhulikhel to Khawa was signed on June 3, 2089 at a cost of Rs 201.99 million.

So far, only hill cutting work has been done from Dhulikhel Bus Park to the zipline, while drainage and drain wall have been installed in some places. According to Yogesh, only the road from the zipline site to Khawa has been demolished and cutting is left in one kilometer stretch. Although the construction of the base was started from Dhulikhel in May 2081 BS, it was swept away in the rainy season and turned into ruins. The contractor company has completed only 25 percent of the construction work even after 11 months of the deadline.

Hundreds of passengers have been injured in accidents on the road that was damaged for reconstruction due to lack of timely work. The Dhulikhel-Khawa road section, which has been dilapidated since some years, will be widened by 12 meters and blacktopped. The office has planned to lay a 20 cm thick cement base over gravel for the first time in Nepal and blacktop the DBM and Asphal in two phases.