Kaski. The construction of three concrete bridges on the Kaski section of the Pushpalal (Mid-Hills) Highway, a project of national pride, has made transportation easier.

The construction of two new bridges over the Yamdi River at Pokhara Metropolitan City-25 has eased the movement of vehicles. Earlier, due to the narrow bridge on the wide road, it was difficult for the vehicles coming from the opposite direction to cross at once and had to stay in traffic jam.

Buddha Gurung, a jeep driver who regularly drives a jeep from Pokhara to Siding, said that the journey has become easier after the construction of the bridge. He said that in the past, due to the narrow bridge, if the vehicle came from the opposite direction, they had to stop and wait for their turn and sometimes there would be a queue of vehicles.

“Earlier, when the bridge was narrow, we had to stop vehicles coming from the front. Sometimes there used to be a queue of vehicles and we had to sit in traffic jams. Now, it has become easier after the bridge is built according to the width of the road. There is no need to stop the vehicle, but time has also been saved,” said driver Gurung.

Information Officer of Pushpalal Highway Project Office, Parbat, Engineer Ujjwal Sharma, said that three motorable bridges have been constructed along the Kaski section of the Mid-Hill Highway at a cost of Rs 215.9 million.

According to him, two bridges have been constructed over Yamdi River at Pokhara metropolis-25 and one at Panibihad of Atrapurna rural municipality.

A new bridge has been constructed on the right and left side of the old bridge over Yamdi River. The length of both bridges is 52 meters each. Similarly, the length of the bridge is 124 meters, said Engineer Sharma.

The office had forwarded the work for the construction of all the three bridges through a single contract. On August 7, 2079, the contract was signed with Geeta Construction of Syangja. According to the agreement, the bridge was brought into operation by completing the construction agreement.

The Mid-Hill Highway has been connecting the districts of the mid-hill region of Nepal through road network. With the completion of three bridges in the Kaski section, the transportation from Pokhara to Parbat, Baglung, Myagdi and Mustang as well as to the northern and western parts of Kaski has become easier.