April 22: Stakeholders have agreed to resume the expansion of a section of the Sanga-Dhulikhel road along the Araniko Highway which was stalled due to a court order.

The local authorities and the writ petitioners have agreed to resume the expansion work of the Banepa-Budol section under the project that has been stalled for the past one and a half months.

The construction work has come to a halt since more than 45 days following an order from the Patan High Court to put off all the works, including the construction of culvert, along the Banepa-Budol section.    

As per the understanding reached between the stakeholders, the writ petitioners have agreed to withdraw the case immediately.

The agreement was reached at a meeting chaired by Deputy Chair of District Coordination Committee, Kavrepalanchowk, Rim Bahadur Tamang on Sunday.    

Similarly, the meeting agreed to divert the water from the under-construction culvert to the Chandeshwari rivulet through a separate drain within the road boundary without passing it through individual land.    

Chief District Officer Rudra Devi Sharma confirmed that the dispute stalling the construction has been resolved following the agreement to withdraw the court case.

It may be noted that thirteen people from Budol of Banepa municipality-6 had filed a writ petition on March 3 against the Suryabinayak-Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas Road Project Office Bhaktapur, project chief Rajendra Das and Banepa-based ward offices 6 and 7.    

Two separate contracts for the expansion of Suryabinyak-Sanga and Sanga-Dhulikhel road sections were signed on March 2023 at the cost of Rs 4.56 billion. As per the agreement, the projects should be completed within three years. -- RSS