MYAGDI: The blacktopping of the Ratnechaur–Bhakunde road in Myagdi has finally begun, 27 years after the track was first opened.
The blacktopping work follows the completion of road widening, drainage construction, retaining walls, curve and gradient improvements, and laying of the sub-base and base on the 10-kilometer stretch from Ratnechaur in Beni Municipality-1 to Tamane via Bhakunde in Ward No. 2.
According to Hari Subedi, Chief of the Road Division Office, Baglung, blacktopping is currently underway on a four-kilometer section between Upallachaur, Arjam, and Faparkhet under the ‘One Constituency, One Road’ program.
Of this, one kilometer has already been blacktopped, including a 200-meter slope section. The road, widened to nine meters, is being blacktopped using DBSD technology at a width of seven meters.
The road, whose track was first opened in 2056 BS, is an essential route for residents of Beni Municipality Wards 1, 2, and 4, as well as parts of Malika Rural Municipality in neighboring Baglung.
The construction contract for the project, worth Rs 233.2 million, was signed on Bhadra 6, 2079 BS.
According to the Road Division Office, the project has achieved 75 percent physical progress and 59 percent financial progress. Ward Chair of Beni Municipality-1, Tek Bahadur Thapa, noted that travel time on the route has been reduced from one hour to just 20 minutes.
Of the Rs 40 million allocated for the current fiscal year, the entire amount has been spent, and an additional Rs 30 million has been allocated for the next fiscal year.
Under the ‘One Constituency, One Strategic Road’ initiative, the federal government allocated Rs 40 million per constituency in fiscal year 2077/78, based on recommendations from directly elected Members of Parliament.
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