By Murari Adhikari

Dhading, June 11: Construction of the Dharke-Sitapaila road, which had been stalled for a long time, is gaining momentum.
Gravel is being laid from Dharke to Thulo Khola in Dhading while work to blacktop the road from Sitapaila in Kathmandu is in full swing.
Mayor of Nagarjun Municipality Mohan Basnet said that work was moving ahead during the lockdown with adequate safety measures and social distancing in place.
The road is considered to be the shortest alternative route to enter the capital. Keshav Pokharel, member of the Bagmati State Assembly, said that work had been started with the plan to completely finish upgrading and paving it within this year.
Seeing the rapid progress, locals around the road are hopeful that they will finally be free from dust during winter and mud during monsoon. This road is also expected to reduce some of the traffic along the Naubise-Nagdhunga road.
Work on the Bhimdhunga-Sitapaila section of the road, to be completed by coming October, looks set to finish ahead of time. Work on upgrading the road from Sitapaila to Nursery and paving 3,500 metres of it is being done by a joint venture of Asish CM and Jayababa Construction Services Company at a cost of Rs 230 million.
Similarly, Divya Jyoti Construction has undertaken the work of constructing and gravelling the canal from Dharke to Thulo Khola at a cost of Rs 140 million. Work is currently in full swing in both these sections.