The Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project is preparing to give more time to the three contractors upgrading a 33.2-km section of the route that links Prithvi Highway and East-West Highway at their midpoints.

The Roads Department has planned to extend the closing date by three months when the current deadline ends on February 20.

“We will extend the deadline by three months till May 20,” said project spokesperson Shiva Khanal. “The job will be completed within the extended deadline as the contractors have expedited work.”

The upgradation work on the highway has been speeded up from January 20, and it has been closed off to traffic from 10 am to 4 pm. The project was divided into three packages and awarded to different contractors. Currently, 74 percent of the work has been completed.

The first layer of black topping has been completed on 18 km of the road, and the second layer has been completed on 15 km of the road.

Another 7 km of the road has been readied for the first layer of black topping, and it will be finished within a month, according to Khanal. “In this way, we will complete black topping 25 km of the road within a month,” he said. “We are prioritising the first layer black topping as it will make vehicular movement easier on the road.”

Major construction work needs to be done on the remaining 8.2 km of the road like constructing retention walls and blasting part of a hill to widen it. “We have to cut away rocky hills along 600 metres of the road at different locations, which is a major challenge,” said Khanal. 

The Narayangadh-Muglin Road carries the heaviest traffic in the country, accounting for 90 percent of Nepal’s total international trade traffic. More than 20,000 vehicles ply the highway daily.

The project, which is being implemented with a Rs3 billion aid package from the World Bank, will upgrade and expand a 33.2-km section of the Narayangadh-Muglin Road to Asian Highway standard and address road safety, axle load control and environmental sustainability issues along the trade corridor.

The road will be expanded to a double-lane road with a width of 9 to 11 metres. The current width of the road is 5.5 metres. The road will be widened up to 11 metres from Aaptari to Jugedi, and up to 9 metres till Muglin.

However, the sections of the highway which lie on difficult terrain will be widened up to 7 metres.      

The first package of the project, upgradation of the 10.4-km section from Aaptari to Dasdhunga, is being implemented by an Indian joint venture BLA and Shrestha Construction.

The second package, upgradation of the 10.7-km section from Dasdhunga to Simaltal, is being carried out by Wood Hill and Lama Constructions. Similarly, Supreme and Rautaha Construction is working on the 12.1-km section from Simaltal to Muglin, the third package of the project.