The project funded jointly by the government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been delayed by over a year due land encroachment at 500-metre section near Birendra Chowk. As per the project agreement, the government is responsible for removing all illegal infrastructures constructed along the highway.

Local authorities and ADB officials, meanwhile, said they have decided to pull down all the illegal structures built along the road section as their repeated requests to the concerned people went unheard. Following the decision, the contractors have started work from both sides of the road section. Earlier, ADB officials had also come to the area for field visit as the project was delayed.

“We took the decision and started moving forward with the construction work after the project was stalled over a year,” Chief District Officer Bed Prakash Lekhak said, adding that they plan to complete construction on the remaining parts isolating the section and finally remove the illegal structures.

The local authorities, meanwhile, appreciated local residents and businessmen living alongside the highway for assisting in the expansion drive by razing the illegal structures on their own. Even after the decision to use force as the last resort, the authorities, however, have still been requesting locals who remain unwilling to remove illegal structures on the their own. Pappu Construction Manager Hari Narayan Rauniyar said the road expansion was also delayed as water pipelines, telephone cables and electricity poles were yet to be removed.