By Nabin Shishir BK, Baglung, May 27: Works on blacktopping of Baglung’s Upallachaur to Ghodabandhe section of the Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway have started.

Around 800 meters of road from Ganesh Ghumti of Bihun Ghodabandhe section of the highway to the police post of Rijalchowk has been blacktopped by adopting health safety measures to be safe from COVID-19.

Road construction work is underway in the remaining sections. The MP/SCF/ECC has taken the responsibility of blacktop of 12-km road from Akshate to Ghodabandhe section of the highway.

Ram Kaji Shrestha, a contractor of the construction company, informed that about 7.5-km road from Ghodaband-he to the district headquarters would be blacktopped by mid-July if the weather is favorable.

About 25 km from Upallachaur to Ghodabandhe road was left to be blacktopped. Shiva Lamichhane, project manager of construction company Bharat Siddhisai JV, informed that the work of sub-way, base, drain, and gravel has been accelerated from Uppal-chaur to Akshate section.

If the weather is favorable, eight kilometers of the road will be blacktopped by July, said Lamichhane. About 2-km road section from the Hadepakha to the Bokse is in ready position for blacktopping. Lamichhane said that the section will be blacktopped in a week.

Technical manpower has to be brought from the Bara district for the blacktop. He said that the workers will be deployed in the field after testing their PCR. Lamichhane said that there was no problem in constructing structures in other areas as the work of rock cutting in Khahare area has reached the final stage.

The raw material required for blacktopping is produced by the crusher industry established in Khahare. The contractors of both sections had made a written commitment to work at the District Administration Office on December 6 by completing the blacktopping of road with-in mid-June, this year.

Ujjwal Sharma, an engineer at the Mid-hill Highway Project Office, Parbat, said that even though the work was not completed as per the written commitment, the expectation has been raised to complete the blacktopping of the road as the construction work of both the sections has gained momentum.

The Baglung section of the highway alone covers 142 kilometers. Out of this, only 46 kilometers remain to be black-topped, according to the Mid-hill Highway Project Office, Parbat.

The contract was signed by dividing the 25-kilometer Baglung district headquarters section into two parts of the road connected as the lifeline of Baglung. Bharat-Siddhisai JV had signed a contract to blacktop 13 km of road from Uppalachaur to Akshet-Bihu section on January 27, 2017, and MP/SCF/ECC JV had signed a contract to blacktop 12 km road in two years.

Despite repeated extensions, the work has not been completed.