Calls to complete the long-stalled Butwal-Belahiya trade highway project have been mounting as the half finished work results in an environmental nightmare.

The Rs5.5 billion six-lane highway in south central Nepal links the trade hub of Butwal with the Indian border 24 km to the south. The government has identified it as one of the key trade routes for the movement of commerce between India and China through Nepal.

The highway project in Rupandehi launched in 2011-12, and was expected to be completed in five years. A 3.5-km section out of the total length of 27 km remains unfinished.

The contractor, a joint venture of Kanchenjunga and Biruwa, has not done work on a 2.7-km section from Butwal to Golpark, and a 750-m section from Siddharthanagar Belahiya. A 200-m long service lane remains incomplete too. The highway project was awarded to a number of contractors.

Delays in the completion of the project have not only made life difficult for travellers, businesses on the roadside say they are enveloped in a dust storm every time a vehicle passes.

When it rains, the highway turns into deep mud that traps vehicles like quicksand; and when the sun shines, dust flies everywhere and covers the shops and houses, locals say.

The local government has not taken any initiative to complete the project, making people’s lives difficult, they say. But with the elections approaching, the concerned authorities say they are serious about completing the unfinished work.

The Butwal-Bhairahawa area has emerged as a new economic hub in Lumbini province following the construction of the country’s second international airport and wider highways, hotels and manufacturing plants.

Nepal has scheduled federal and provincial elections on November 20. Voters had raised the issue of the Butwal-Golpark section during the local elections in May.

At that time, candidates of the major political parties had promised to complete the construction immediately if they won. Now, the public has started to exert pressure on the elected representatives.

Amid local pressure, Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City has been holding meetings regularly. It has been holding talks with the road project chief, construction companies, local representatives, district administration, and electricity and water supply officials.

Mayor Khel Raj Pandey said they had formed a facilitation committee led by Tek Raj Panthi, chief administrative officer of the sub-metropolitan city. The committee has been tasked to monitor and assist the project so that it can complete the work.

The committee consists of the chief of the electricity and water supply and president of the Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Deepak Kumar Jha, chief of the project, said the 750-m section at Belahiya is yet to be constructed because some government-owned infrastructure needs to be demolished.

“There are customs offices, buildings of the local police and checkpoints at the border,” he said. “All these structures need to be removed. A 200-m service lane at Padsari in Omsatia Rural Municipality is still to be constructed."

Jha said they had written repeatedly to the contractors to complete the work. He said that work would be completed after the monsoon.

The contractor started work on the Butwal-Chauraha-Golpark intersection in April 2017. The project deadline was October 2019 and it was extended to July 2022 through a Cabinet decision. There has been no progress even though the extended deadline has passed.

According to the project, it faced delays in the beginning due to an interim order by the Supreme Court not to demolish houses on the Chauraha-Golpark section.

The court later ordered the demolition work to be carried out and allowed the construction of the road, according to project officials.

"The design of the trade road had to be changed, and that too delayed the completion of the project," Jha said. A drainage system was added later in the plan which increased the project cost from Rs450 million to Rs530 million.

Jha said that five houses are yet to be demolished in the section. The construction of the road was also obstructed by delays in shifting electricity and telephone poles and drinking water pipes.

"The work of removing electricity poles and drinking water pipes remains to be done,” he said.

After progress slowed, the project published a public notice on July 29 seeking clarification from the contractor. Kanchenjunga-Biruwa Construction responded by submitting a new schedule.

“If the firm misses the deadline again, it will be fined and the contract will be terminated,” Jha said.

Sumit Shrestha, representative of Kanchenjunga-Biruwa Construction, said that work was delayed due to the court order that came right after the contract was signed.

“We will complete the work in the current fiscal year if the obstructions are removed,” Shrestha said. “We are ready to face punishment if we miss the extended deadline.''

Bharatmani Pandey, chief district officer, said progress was utterly slow on a 3-km section of the highway. He said that since the contractor has submitted a timetable to complete the project, the administration is also assisting them.

"It will not be acceptable if the work gets delayed again,” Pandey said.