The deadline for the eastern section of the Narayanghat–Butwal road expansion project, part of the East-West Highway widening into four lanes, is set to be extended by one year.
According to Chudaram Dhakal, Project Director at the Department of Roads Project Directorate (ADB), although the contractor initially requested a longer extension, a mutual agreement was reached to complete most of the remaining work within one year—excluding final finishing touches. “After discussions with the contractor and project consultant, we agreed to a one-year extension based on their commitment to completing 90% of the work within this period,” Dhakal said.
This will be the third extension for the project, with the current deadline expiring on Shrawan 8. As of now, 69.3% of the physical progress has been achieved.
Information Officer of the eastern section of the project, Engineer Shiva Khanal, stated that the construction company is currently focused on the Daunne section, where travelers have been facing issues due to ongoing roadwork. Manpower has been concentrated in Daunne for road surfacing (concreting), while blacktopping is underway in Chormara along with bridge construction, lane expansion, and divider installation. Around 272 workers are actively engaged in the project.
Although smaller bridges along the section are operational, construction of larger bridges is still ongoing. A major bridge over Sukha Khola in Danda is structurally complete but awaits the approach road, which has delayed its opening.
“Work is currently underway on the Chormara bridge, while the Beldiya Khola bridge will be operational in 2–3 days. We’re preparing for concreting at the Jayashree Khola bridge as well. The pace of work has significantly increased across the eastern section,” Khanal said.
Only 100 meters of road surfacing remains in Pulchowk of Gaindakot, which is expected to be completed within a month. Around 7 kilometers of road is yet to be blacktopped, mainly in areas with bridges such as Chormara and from Dumkibas to Daunne.
The eastern section (Gaindakot–Daunne) spans approximately 65 kilometers of the total 114-kilometer road project. Of this, around 1.5 km is occupied by bridges, and the remaining unpaved section is expected to be blacktopped soon. Apart from Daunne, the remaining stretches are said to be relatively smooth for travel.
In the past year, approximately 20 km of physical progress was made. “When the second extension expired, only 29 km of road was blacktopped. By the end of Asar, that number increased to 56 km,” said Khanal.
The road widening work is being carried out by China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited, which signed the contract with the Government of Nepal on Magh 24, 2075 B.S., with an initial 42-month completion period. However, due to repeated delays and justification by the company, the deadline has been extended multiple times. Project Director Dhakal mentioned that this upcoming extension will be the final one.
The Narayanghat–Butwal Road Project is divided into two sections with a total cost of Rs. 16.99 billion.
- Eastern Section (Gaindakot–Daunne, 65 km): Rs. 9.13 billion
- Western Section (Daunne–Butwal, 49 km): Rs. 7.86 billion
The project is funded with 85% loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the remaining amount is covered by the Government of Nepal.
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