The Narayanghat-Muglin Road Project has given the contractors three more months to complete upgrading the 33.2-km route, which is one of the busiest highways in the country and the Kathmandu Valley’s key supply line.

The Department of Roads approved the deadline extension on Wednesday. Work on the highway was initially slated to be finished by February 20. The time limit has been extended till the end of May, said Shiva Khanal, spokesperson for the project.

The Narayanghat-Muglin Road joins the Prithvi Highway and the East-West Highway. The road is being widened from single to double lane as part of the improvement plan.

“Around 82 percent of the construction work has been completed, and the remaining tasks will be finished within the new deadline,” said Khanal. “The contractors have been doing a satisfactory job from January 20 after the road was closed to vehicular traffic from 10 am to 4 pm so construction crews could work unhindered.”

The first layer of black topping has been completed on 24.5 km of the road, and the second layer has been laid on 21 km of the road.

Similarly, the third layer of black topping has been laid on 1 km of the road so far. Another 4.5 km is ready to receive the first layer of black topping, according to Khanal. “Within a month, 29 km of the road will be black topped,” he said.

Major construction work needs to be done on the remaining 4.2 km of the road like constructing retention walls and blasting part of a hill to widen it. “Most of the difficult tasks have been completed. A rocky hill had to be cut away along 300 metres of the road,” Khanal said. “The contractors are planning to used controlled blasting to cut away the rock face to widen the road. We are holding talks with the army to obtain the explosives.”

The Narayanghat-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 Narayanghat-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.

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 are working on the 12.1-km section from Simaltal to Muglin, the third package of the project.