Vehicular movement along the Narayangadh-Muglin road section has been closed for four hours daily for road expansion works until further notice.

Beginning Thursday, the Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project started closing off the traffic flow from 11am to 3pm.

“The road expansion works had been affected because of heavy traffic. Closing the road for four hours will allow us an uninterrupted time window to work smoothly,” said Shiva Khanal, the project engineer.

A 2km stretch between Kalikhola and Muglin is where the workers are struggling to make a desired progress. The work involves cutting through rocks, which is both risky and time-consuming. 

“And the traffic movement does not help at all. Our plan is to complete the road expansion work along this stretch as early possible,” Khanal said. 

Chief District Officer of Chitwan Narayan Prasad Bhatta said the decision to close the road was taken to speed up the project.

“Vehicles would be stopped a few kilometres away from the project site for four hours daily,” he said, requesting the travellers to bear with the inconveniences.   

Only 32 percent of the work has been completed since the project commenced in April 2015. As per the agreement, the project contractors are required to complete the project by April 2017. Three Nepal-India joint venture companies have been contracted to carry out the works. 

The World Bank has provided a Rs 3 billion aid for upgrading the 33km road to the Asian Highway standard. 

The Narayangadh-Muglin road accounts for 90 percent of Nepal’s total international trade traffic, with more than 8,000 vehicles travelling daily.