One-way concreting has been completed on the eastern section of the Daunne stretch under the ongoing expansion of the Mahendra Highway.

The eastern section, between Dumkibas and Bardaghat, spans 3.9 kilometres. The one-way concreting work on this stretch was completed on Thursday, and traffic is expected to resume within two weeks.

The 114-kilometre highway expansion project has been divided into eastern and western sections. The Chinese contractor, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, is overseeing the project, with a 65-kilometre eastern stretch and a 49-kilometre western stretch.

In most parts of the project area, construction on both sides has been completed, although one-way work remains at a few locations.

On the 10-kilometre Daunne stretch in the western section, around 200 metres of road remains unfinished. Pashupati Gyawali, chief of the section, said concreting of the remaining portion will be completed within 15 days.

Traffic is expected to become fully operational along the Daunne stretch before mid-July. The road consists of three lanes, and concrete surfacing is being prioritised in areas prone to water seepage along the 14-kilometre stretch.

The deadline for the completion of the Butwal–Narayanghat road project falls in the third week of July.

As of Friday, around 85 percent of the construction work on the Mahendra Highway has been completed.