Muglin-Pokhara Road Expansion Work to Proceed from FY 2083/84

Kathmandu. The expansion work of the Muglin-Aabukhareni section of the Muglin-Pokhara road is to be expedited.

Preparations are underway to advance the expansion work from the fiscal year 2083/84, informed Bishnu Prasad Pandey, Engineer and Information Officer of the Muglin-Pokhara Road Project's Eastern Section.

A budget of NPR 1.05 billion has been allocated for its eastern section, and a total budget of NPR 3.01 billion has been allocated for the overall project. This budget allocation is expected to accelerate the physical construction work of this section, which has been slow due to procedural and compensation disputes for a long time.

The Muglin-Aabukhareni section of the Muglin-Pokhara Road Project, operated with investment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has a compensation dispute. As this dispute has not been resolved at the local level, no physical construction work has started in this section so far.

Road Work Completed in Eastern Section, Madhi Bridge in Final Stage

The eastern section covers 41.45 kilometers from Aabukhareni to Jamune. Of this, 32 kilometers of road expansion work has been completed, informed Bishnu Prasad Pandey, Engineer of the Eastern Section. According to Pandey, the construction of other auxiliary roads and necessary infrastructure works in this road section are almost complete. The 'road marking' work, which is in the final stage, is also almost complete. Many works in this section have been completed as the contract agreement has ended.

However, the physical progress of the Madhi River bridge construction in Damouli, which is the main structure of the eastern section, is only 86 percent. The construction deadline for this bridge was June 19, but the construction party has requested an extension of 303 days by corresponding with the project as the work could not be completed within the stipulated time. The construction work of the eastern section was contracted to 'China Communication Construction' at a cost of NPR 6.21 billion, 31 million, and 13 thousand. According to the road design, the road has been expanded to 41 meters in Damouli and Dhuwre markets of Tanahun and 25-25 meters in other places.

Extension Preparation for Western Section

Similarly, the physical progress of the western section of the Muglin Pokhara road (Jamune-Setipul) has reached 82 percent so far. According to Krishna Bahadur Kunwar, Chief of the Muglin-Pokhara Road Project Western Section, the main work of constructing the four-lane road has been completed. Out of the total length of 36 kilometers, only 10 kilometers of service lane and road safety works remain.

The deadline for this road section was June 15, but as the construction could not be completed, preparations are underway for an extension. Project Chief Kunwar said, 'Although the impact of petrol price hike and bitumen shortage was not felt, the work was affected by rain in March-April. Preparations for an extension are underway.'

The work on this western section, which started in 2078, was contracted with the Chinese company 'Yanhui Kaiyuan Highway and Bridge Construction' for NPR 7.40 billion. The contractor company has claimed that work could not be done for 75 days due to the rainy season and has demanded an extension of 6 months. However, the project office is discussing the possibility of extending the deadline by only 2 to 4 months.

Project Chief Kunwar said, 'The contractor has demanded a 6-month extension, but we cannot grant the full extension they have asked for. We are discussing and preparing to extend the deadline by an appropriate period. It seems about 3-4 months will need to be added.'