The Dhoban-Chidiya Khola road section of the Siddhartha Highway will be closed for eight hours daily for necessary preparations for the construction of a tunnelway at Siddha Baba.

A meeting of the Highway Safety Committee held at the Palpa District Administration Office on Monday decided to close the highway twice a day from Saturday.

Jagannath Pant, chief district officer, said the traffic will not be allowed to operate on the road section from 11am to 2pm during daytime and from 10pm to 3am at night.

He said it was decided to close the road section for at least 15 days by constructing a diversion near Ramapithecus Park. The highway will be allowed to be closed only by upgrading the road from Dobhan to Belbas through Nuwakot for emergencies and small vehicles, he added.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation has received the contract for the construction of the 1.12 km tunnelway at the cost of Rs7.34 billion.