May 1: The east section of the Narayangadh-Butwal road along the East-West Highway has seen 50 percent work progress ever since the upgrading work started more than five years ago. The project was initially supposed to be completed within 42 months but has not achieved the target even in five years and three months.

A 33-kilometre stretch in the east section has been blacktopped as of April 27, confirmed Engineer Shiva Khanal, the Information Officer for the Narayangadh-Butwal Road Project.

He added that the progress is gaining momentum in recent months.

According to Khanal, 18 kilometres of road were upgraded on one side in the last five months alone when took nearly half a decade to blacktop just 15 kilometres previously.    
All small bridges spanning 25 metres have been already constructed. Now the construction of large bridges is in progress, he said.    
Rakesh Jha, the representative of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited reports that site clearance work is awaited at Dumkauli, Rajahar, and Gaindakot, causing delays in the overall upgrading process.    
The project to upgrade a 113-kilometre road stretch from Gaindakot to Lumbini has been implemented by dividing it into two clusters: 64.42 kilometres from Gaindakot to Daunne (East Section), and 48.58 kilometres from Daunne to Butwal (West Section). Facilitated by a loan of Rs 16.99 billion from the Asian Development Bank, this project has been recognised as a project of national pride.     
Urban areas along the road section will have additional two lanes, while in Daunne, it will have a three-lane setup along a five-kilometre stretch due to topographical issue, the company stated.