KATHMANDU: The national pride road projects showed little progress in the last fiscal year due to the impact of COVID-19.
With this experience in hindsight, the government aims to expedite these projects and complete their construction in the stipulated time.
The Mid-hill Highway and the Hulaki Highway which have been set to be completed in fiscal year 2022/23 will be completed in the stipulated time, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport said.
Although the construction of the Mid-hill (Pushpalal) Highway started in fiscal year 2008/2009, it has been only four years since it was fully initiated.
Secretary at the Ministry Devendra Karki said although work on the national pride road projects were stalled for three and half months in the last fiscal year due to the COVID-19, works would be accelerated up in the next fiscal year.
The physical progress of this road project last fiscal year was 53 per cent while the financial progress was 47 per cent. Out of the nearly 1900 kilometres, half of this has been blacktopped.
Karki said the project would be completed in time by asphalting up to 350 kilometres of this road in a year. A target was set to blacktop 350 kilometres of this under-construction highway last fiscal year. But only 111 kilometres of it was blacktopped.
The Hulaki Highway had been targeted to complete in three years. The target was to blacktop 350 kilometers of the highway and construct 19 bridges along it in last fiscal year.
One hundred and ninety two kilometers of this highway was blacktopped last fiscal year. India is bearing eight billion of the total project cost of Rs 65 billion. This road project is targeted to complete in fiscal year 2023/24.
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