April 5: Works related to digging of the Nagdhunga Tunnel Project in Kathmandu has been halted for 20 days after digging devices got damaged.    
The Nagdhunga Tunnel Project shared that earlier they used to dig 3 to 4 metres on an average in a day but the digging has come to a grinding halt for 20 days owing to damages incurred in the machines used to dig the tunnel, shared Project Chief Nabin Man Shrestha.    
Shrestha added that although other works under the project are ongoing, the progress on the part of tunnel digging has been slow.

"The soil in the digging site was substandard and machines are getting damaged frequently," he said, adding, "The kind of rocks being unearthed while digging was different from the survey.”    
The first tunnel way in the country measures 2.7 kilometres in length and has two lanes. The foundation stone of the project was laid in October, 2019 and the physical progress stands at 50.15 per cent so far.    
Shrestha further said that talks with the construction company Hazama Ando Corporation is ongoing to resolve the problem.

The Japanese construction company is reeling under human resources crunch and is lacking adequate machines at present, it has been learnt.    
The tunnel is being constructed with loan assistance from the Government of Japan and is expected to reduce the time to cross the Nagdhunga Pass to one-third of the current time and make transportation of people safe and efficient.    
Meanwhile, delays in addressing the compensation issues related to land acquisition has been further pushing the deadline of the project ought to be completed within 42 months from the start of the project.    
Workers falling sick, unavailability of machines and tools and other hurdles during COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the construction process in between. -- RSS