Work to upgrade three different road sections in Baglung Municipality has started with a financial grant from the World Bank. The road projects are being implemented through the Nepal Urban Governance and Infrastructure Project.

According to Basanta Kumar Shrestha, mayor of Baglung Municipality, a total of 11.5-km road length will be upgraded. A project agreement was signed to widen and blacktop the eight kilometres Mulpani-Harrachaur-Kalimati-Titaure road in ward 7 of Baglung Municipality, two kilometres long Odarchaur-Dhodeni road and one-and-a-half kilometres long Majhibasti-Niraheghat road. The passages for these three road sections were already opened, but are in poor condition.

“Aashish Phewa JV Construction Company was awarded the contract for the road upgrade project totalling Rs432.1 million,” said Trilochan Giri, an engineer at the municipality office. According to Giri, the road widening and upgrade work will be completed within 13 months in coordination of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.

The detailed project report estimates the total cost of Rs589.9 million for completing the road upgrade works on the three road sections. However, the construction company agreed to do the work for Rs 432.1 million.

Mayor Shrestha officially inaugurated the upgrade work on Saturday following recent field visits and inspections by technical teams of the World Bank, Ministry of Urban Development and consultants. The construction company also started work on the same day.

“The municipality has selected these three road sections for the upgrade project with the aim of facilitating the marketing of agricultural products from the area,” said Shrestha. Once the project is completed, local farmers can easily take their produce to the district headquarters.

Dhodeni is a ‘pocket area’ known for its milk and vegetable production. Similarly, Kalimati and Titaure areas are known for growing green vegetables. But the farmers are having a tough time transporting their produce to the nearby markets due to the poor condition of the roads. With the commencement of the road upgrade work, farmers are optimistic that it will be easier to export their produce once the project is completed.

“We produce vegetables and other goods in our village, but it is quite difficult to take them to the market due to the poor state of the road. The road upgrade will be quite helpful for us to find a market for our products,” said Ram Prasad Sharma, a local farmer of Dhodeni.

According to the project agreement, the roads will be widened to nine meters. “All three roads will be widened to nine metres. In some places where the terrain makes it impossible to make it nine metres, the roads may be up to six metres wide,” said Hari Dutta Kandel, chief executive officer at the municipality.

Earlier, the seven-kilometres Kudule-Dharapani road was widened and blacktopped with financial assistance from the World Bank. The road is part of a ring road connecting ward 4 and 6. The ongoing road projects in three different sections will be helpful in completing the ring road in Baglung Municipality, where the district headquarters lies.

The passage for the ring road has already been opened from ward 1 to 7 and ward 12 to 13, with most sections already blacktopped. Road construction is currently underway at ward 8, 9, 10, and 11.