KATHMANDU, March 6: Another seven kilometers track of the North-South (Koshi Corridor) highway listed in the National Pride Projects is yet to be laid. Although the government has given it high priority, the track digging work of the corridor is progressing at a very slow pace.
Koshi Corridor Khandbari-Kimathanka Road Planning Office Planning Head Sabin Koirala said that out of 14 km of road tracks to be dug under the Koshi Corridor, so far only 7 km of tracks have been opened.
"At present, seven kilometers of road track in the Changpang section is yet to be dug," he said. In 2019, the government assigned the responsibility to the Nepali Army to dig the track of this section. Due to the difficult terrain, it has been difficult to dig the track of this section. Between Khandbari and Kimathanka border points, only 7 km of track remains to be dug.
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The track width of this road will be 10 meters. In which two-lane roads and structures will be built. Planning Head Koirala said that vehicles are plying up to 80 km of the Koshi corridor. "Out of 162 km, 155 km of road tracks have been opened so far," he said, “Of that, 65 km of the road has been graveled”.
The overall physical progress of Koshi Corridor so far has been 41 percent. This project has spent 4.5 billion rupees so far. The government started the construction of the North-South Koshi Highway in the fiscal year 2008/09. The target was to build a 186 km road from Basantpur to Kimathanka, the northern border.
Although the initial cost of this project was 16.2 billion rupees, now the cost of this project has been revised to 11.93 billion rupees. Not only the cost but also the length of 20 km under the project has been reduced. In 2019, the Planning Office had divided the 50 km road into four sections and forwarded the contract. Sharma/Shivashakti JV was selected for paving 39 km of road in three sections, but so far this construction company is not able to pave the road at the expected speed.
The contract for this road section was awarded for 1.2 billion rupees. Planning head Koirala said that despite the deadline as per the contract agreement, the progress of the construction company was not encouraging. Similarly, the progress of Bivas/Dragon Construction Service, which is responsible for the construction of another 11 km road section, is also slow. According to the contract agreement, both these construction companies have to complete the black topping of 50 km of the Koshi Corridor by the end of June 2024.
The government has allocated a budget of 1.1 billion rupees for the Koshi Corridor in the current fiscal year. Only 35 percent of the total allocated budget has been spent in the period up to 7 months of the current year. Planning head Koirala said that the budget of 3.56 billion rupees is needed in the current year, but there is a shortage of budget.
"The work of Koshi Corridor has to be carried forward according to the multi-year contract," he said, “Due to the shortage of budgets, we are not able to award the contract.”He said that the government should ensure a timely budget for multi-year projects.
