The Butwal-Narayanghat section of the East-West Highway, which has been dug up for an upgrade, has been seeing hours-long traffic jams. The road is full of potholes which are now filled with rainwater making the busy highway more prone to accidents.

“Now it takes around four hours to cross the 68 km Daunne-Gaindakot road section. The road is in a pathetic condition,” said Arjun Kafle of Jogikuti in Rupandehi district who was on his way to Kathmandu via Daunne-Gaindakot road a few days ago. “A busy festive season is round the corner, so there will be movement of people across the country. How will the decrepit road withstand such a huge traffic pressure?”

The widening work of the 114 km Butwal-Narayanghat section is currently underway. The road expansion project was initiated around four years ago with a plan to complete the work in three years. But the road project is nowhere near completion. According to officials at the Butwal-Narayanghat Road Project, only around 35 percent of work has been completed so far.

The road project dug up the asphalt surface for widening the road a few months ago. But the road is yet to be repaired since the contractor halted work two months ago citing unfavourable conditions during the rainy months.

In February 2019, the Department of Roads had signed an agreement with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to implement the road project. As per the project agreement, the existing two-lane road has to be widened to six lanes in market areas, four lanes in forest areas and three lanes in the Daunne hill areas. The contractor had divided the Narayanghat-Butwal road into two sections—48 km Daunne-Gaindakot section and 66 km Daunne-Butwal section. The road widening work was initiated with Rs17 billion loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

Stating that the road widening work was not possible during the monsoon rains, the construction company gave a two-month break to its workers. Workers have yet to return to the project site.

“Workers will return to the site soon,” said Rakesh Jha, a consultant engineer with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

The construction company generally fills up the potholes along the road. However, the potholes along the Daunne-Gaindakot road section have yet to be repaired.

The local people have time and again complained about the delay in road widening work stating that the construction company and the government authorities are not serious about completing the road project. They criticised the lawmakers representing the district for not raising the issue in the federal parliament and the provincial assembly.

The Butwal-Narayanghat road is one of the busiest stretches of the East-West Highway. It is a major road linking Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces to the national capital. More than 10,000 vehicles use the road section on a daily basis, according to the district traffic police office.

A large number of people visit their homes to celebrate Dashain, the biggest Hindu festival that falls in October this year. The pitiable condition of the Butwal-Narayanghat section will affect thousands of travellers.