KATHMANDU, July 10: Instead of taking action against the Chinese company involved in the construction of the Butwal-Narayanghat road, the government is preparing to extend the deadline by one year. The Chinese company China State Construction Corporation has completed less than 20 percent of the work on the Butwal-Narayanghat road section in a period of 41 months.
The Chinese company, which did not work within the stipulated time, has been requesting an extension of the deadline by two years. According to the contract agreement, the Chinese company has only one month (August 7) left to complete the construction. The Department of Roads is preparing to extend the deadline by one year instead of blacklisting the company that did not complete the work on time.
The road was inaugurated on March 22, 2019 with a plan to upgrade the 113 kilometer long road under the project. As per the contract agreement, the construction of this road section was targeted to be completed within 42 months. The government had put forward a plan to construct and upgrade 113 kilometers of roads in the fiscal year 2019/20, but considering the physical progress of the stipulated three and a half years, it is seen that the construction will not be completed even in the next two years.
Butbal-Narayangadh West Road Project Chief Pradip Raj Shakya said that the overall physical progress of the project is about 20 percent. "The Chinese company is taking the initiative to extend the deadline by two years," he said. "The road department can extend the deadline by at least one year after conducting the necessary study on the contractor's proposal."