Kavrepalanchok. The Dhulikhel-Khawa road section of the Araniko Highway has been upgraded by stopping the vehicular movement.

The Division Road Office, Bhaktapur has closed the road for two weeks starting Saturday night for blacktopping the road section in the context of the upgrading work.

Vehicular movement has been closed from 6 pm to 5 am from March 20 to make sure that the expansion work was expedited after an agreement was signed with the new construction company last October for the expansion project, which was stalled for a long time due to the negligence of the contractors. Chief of the office, Senior Divisional Engineer Sunam Yogesh said that the government has completely banned the movement of goods vehicles including tippers during the period. According to him, 2.5 kilometers of the road section will be completed by April and the remaining will be completed by April.

Yogesh said that CCTV will be installed on the road section first and then it will be paved as per the target. The re-up-gradation work has been expedited after an agreement was signed with a new construction company last November for the expansion work which was stalled due to the negligence of the contractors.

According to the office, the contract was signed with CNA1 Kali JV for Rs 315.6 million excluding VAT. At present, small structures and support walls are being constructed. Yogesh said that due to the cold weather, there is no surface work on the road and a plan has been made to make it concrete after the cold subsides.

Yogesh said that slope maintenance of the road and other minor works will be carried out after the blacktopping work is completed. New technology will also be used to manage landslides along the road that will be seven meters wide.

Meanwhile, the highway has been difficult for the past three years due to delay in the construction work. The office had called for tender again in August last year, five months after canceling the old contract. The office had terminated the contract with the construction company citing that the road from Dhulikhel to Khawa had not been completed in the stipulated time.

After 11 months of the expiry of the contract, the office has terminated the contract with the Gauri-Parbati Construction Service on February 29, 2081 when even 25 percent of the construction work has not been completed. The company had awarded the contract for Rs 201,946,501 to complete the construction within 22 months i.e. Chaitra 19, 2080 BS.

The road section is the main road leading to Tatopani of Sindhupalchowk and neighbouring districts including Dolakha and Ramechhap via the Araniko Highway. For the first time in Nepal, a 20 cm thick cement base will be laid on the gravel and two phases of blacktopping of DBM and Asphal will be blacktopped, according to the office.