The expansion work of the 88km Muglin-Pokhara road section along the Prithvi Highway has begun.

In the first phase of the road expansion project, trees are being cut down in areas demarcated for construction in Aanbukhaireni and Bandipur rural municipalities.

According to Puskar Regmi, resident engineer of the road expansion project, 197 trees have been cut down for the project so far.

The Department of Roads has started works on the Aanbukhaireni-Pokhara section of the Muglin-Pokhara road in the first phase.

Twelve staff have been deployed to cut down trees and collect them. According to Regmi, the felled trees will first be handed over to the Road Division Office and then to the Division Forest Office.

Arun Parajuli, assistant chief of the Division Forest Office, Tanahun, said that 6,750 trees would be cut down in the district for the expansion of the existing two-lane Muglin-Pokhara road section. The section is to be expanded to a four-lane road under the National Highway Upgradation and Expansion Programme.

According to the road project, 1,250 trees will be cut down in Kaski under the expansion project.

The 80km-long Aanbukhaireni-Pokhara road is divided into two sections— Aanbukhaireni-Jamune (41km) is the eastern section and Jamune-Pokhara (39km) the western section.

The contract for the construction of the eastern section has been given to the Chinese Communication Construction Company at a cost of Rs 6.21 billion and the western section to the Chinese company Yanhui Kaiyun Highway and Bridge Construction at a cost of Rs 7.4 billion.

Around 72km of the road section along the Prithvi Highway falls in Tanahun district. The expansion project will hamper roadside businesses in small marketplaces, including Aanbukhaireni, Bimalnagar, Dumre, Chhirkane, Ghansikuwa, Talghare, Damauli, Chapaghat, Jamune, Tharpu, Khairenitar, Dulegonda and Kotre, along the highway.