June 12: The Department of Archeology (DoA) has sent a circular to the District Administration Office, Kavrepalanchowk to stop destruction of archeological goods and structures while widening the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel road.    
The department urged the district administration office to stop bulldozing antique brick walls, sources of water, antique wooden and stone structures that were found at Banepa’s Bhaisepati area along the Araniko Highway in course of the road excavation.    
The department's Archeology Officer Bhishma Banskota informed that a circular was sent to the concerned authority on Sunday to immediately stop the act. The department decided to send the circular after archeologically valuable goods were ruined during the road widening drive.    
Banskota further said that the department has also urged the authority to preserve antique brick walls, water sources, and ancient wooden and stone structures.    
Likewise, the department also wrote a letter to Banepa Municipality – located along the Araniko Highway to not allow actions that destroy archeologically-important structures in course of the road expansion.    
It may be noted that the expansion of the road from Suryabinayak of Bhaktapur to Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchowk along the Araniko Highway had started since last March. Two separate contracts were awarded to the construction companies to complete the widening of Suryabinayak-Sanga and Sanga-Dhulikhel road sections within three years.    
According to the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel, Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas road project office, a contract of Rs 4.56 billion has been signed for the expansion of Sanga-Dhulikhel road. Likewise, another contract amounting to Rs 3.88 billion has been signed for the widening of 7.5-km road from Suryabinayak to Sanga. -- RSS