The construction work of the Dharan-Chatara-Sindhuli-Hetauda road, a stretch of the proposed Madan Bhandari Highway, is in its final stage.

According to Niranjan Thapa, an engineer at the road project, around 95 percent of road construction works and around 92 percent of bridge construction works have been completed so far.

“The construction of the road and all the bridges will be completed by mid-September,” Thapa said.

The government plans to construct the Madan Bhandari Highway from Shantinagar in Jhapa district to Rupal in Dadeldhura district through the Chure region. The construction of the highway, which is being developed as an alternative to the East-West Highway, is to be completed in the next nine years.

The government has divided the 311-km Dharan-Chatara-Hetauda road into two sections—eastern and western—to speed up construction works. Project offices have been established in Gaighat (eastern part) and Hetauda.

According to Thapa, there are 33 major bridges and 18 minor bridges along the western section.

“The construction of 32 major bridges has been completed while a 304-metre-long bridge over the Bagmati river connecting Hariharpur Rural Municipality of Sindhuli and Bagmati Rural Municipality of Makwanpur is under construction. It will be completed within a couple of months,” said engineer Thapa. The construction of the 18 small bridges is also ongoing, he added.

The work progress in the eastern section is even better.

“More than 98 percent work of the eastern section has been completed. As many as 46 bridges have been constructed while six bridges are under construction,” said Manish Pokharel, an engineer at the eastern section.

According to him, almost all road construction works in the eastern section will be completed by mid-June. A six-km-long road from Dhura Bazaar to Khattar in Sindhuli has been halted for the past few months over a land clearance dispute. The local people have been demanding a change in the alignment of the road, as around 300 structures along the section have to be dismantled for the road project.

The Nepal Army has been given the contract to construct a 1.5 kilometre-long road at Phurkechaur in Bakaiya Rural Municipality, the western part of Makwanpur district. Likewise, Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project was awarded the contract to construct 800 metres of the road in Sindhuli district.

In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 3 billion for the Dharan-Chatara-Sindhuli-Hetauda road project. Sixty-six kilometres of the highway fall in Sindhuli whereas 48 kilometres lie in Makwanpur.

The Dharan-Chatara-Gaighat-Sindhuli-Hetauda road is being constructed at a total cost of around Rs 22 billion.

The two-lane road will benefit the residents of four inner Tarai districts—Makwanpur, Sindhuli, Udayapur and Sunsari.

“The Hetauda-Dharan road will ease transportation of essentials, including food grains, between the Tarai districts and the Capital. This road will also help enhance the economy by boosting tourism,” said Sarkesh Ghalan, chairman of Bagmati Rural Municipality in Makwanpur.

The construction of the road was started in the fiscal year 2007/2008. Every year, the government had been allocating Rs 80 million to Rs 250 million for the road project.