Hundreds of passengers have been left in the lurch following obstruction of the east-west highway for the past 12 hours.

According to Nawalparasi East District Police Office, the highway was blocked at 10:30pm last night after a diversion constructed in course of the road expansion caved in.

Vehicles heading to their destination have stopped at Chormara and Danda after the diversion at a place named 40 Kilometre caved in.

According to police, attempts are being made to repair the diversion.

The expansion works along the Butwal- Narayangadh road section of the highway has been sluggish. The expansion drive has led to frequent obstructions.

The delayed road expansion work has left the travellers and locals in hardships.

It generally takes two to three hours to cover the road stretch from Butwal to Narayangadh. However, ever since the road expansion project began in 2019, travel time has more than doubled.

The widening work along the 114km section, one of the busiest road stretches along the east-west highway, was initiated with Rs17 billion loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank.