Spread the love

Kathmandu, Nov 11:  After eight and a half years under Nepal Army’s supervision, the Kathmandu–Tarai/Madhesh Expressway has achieved only 43.66 percent physical progress and 44.89 percent financial progress, despite spending Rs 82.17 billion so far.

The Cabinet had handed over the project to the Army on May 4, 2017. Since then, Rs 1.65 billion has been spent on land acquisition, Rs 823.7 million paid to contractors, and Rs 98.1 million provided to the Nepal Electricity Authority. The revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) has put the total project cost at Rs 211.93 billion.

According to the Army’s latest progress report, construction is ongoing under 13 different packages, including sections 1 through 10, 8A, 8B, 9A, and 9B. Work on package 11, covering the Khokana–Dukuchhap section, has yet to begin due to unresolved land acquisition issues and uncertainty over the expressway’s starting point. Coordination is underway for compensation distribution and design alternatives are being explored.

As per the approved DPR, 139 ropanis of private land and 14 ropanis of Guthi land in the Khokana–Dukuchhap area are yet to be acquired, while valuation of 165 ropanis remains pending. The Army noted that the land requirement might change after final design adjustments.

The expressway includes seven tunnels stretching 10.979 kilometers. Among them, the Dhedre and Lendanda tunnels have achieved breakthroughs, while excavation continues at Mahadevsthan and Chandrabhir tunnels. Portal works are ongoing at Devchaur, Sisauthar, and Mauribhir.

Out of 89 planned bridges, contracts for 85 have been signed and most are in the construction phase. Foundations for 53 bridges are complete, superstructure works are underway at 31 sites, and substructure works at six.

Road construction has seen limited progress, with 9.3 kilometers of sub-base completed and five kilometers blacktopped. Around 53,242 trees have been cut down along the route. Land acquisition from 24.8 km to 70.97 km has been completed, while approval for acquiring land between 6.5 km and 24.8 km for tunnels, slope protection, and river training is still pending.

Progress varies widely across sections: 4.50 percent in package 8A, 6.27 percent in 8B, 2.34 percent in 9A, 2.25 percent in 9B, 12.77 percent in 10, 34.68 percent in 1, 64.03 percent in 2, 17.39 percent in 7, 19.16 percent in 6, 47.01 percent in 3, 41.30 percent in 4, and 51.58 percent in 5.

Despite the heavy spending and long timeline, the project remains far from completion.

People’s News Monitoring Service