The Bagmati state government has decided to allocate Rs.500 Million.
A preliminary study has shown that the road connecting the state capital Hetauda alone will cost Rs. 2 billion. The Mahabharat village municipality plans to continue the discussion on the issue of bringing additional budget from the state government and the federal government by making the road project in the hilly area nicknamed 'Extremely remote and Karnali' in the district. The 64-kilometer-long road from Pinthali to Ghartichhap, the center of the village municipality, is being upgraded from another budget of Rs. 670 million, said Kanchhalal Zimba, chairman of the village municipality.
According to him, the study has shown that 64 km of roads within the Kavre area can be paved only with an additional Rs 2.10 billion. Only the 'track' of the road allocated by the state government for upgrading has been opened. It is said that they have been demanding budget from the state government for the last few years to pave the unpaved road with only upgraded track as the means of transportation will not run during the rainy season.
Minister for Youth and Sports Ratna Dhakal said that it has been decided to allocate Rs. 500 million from the current fiscal year budget for the upgrade of the road. "We have been demanding budget for this road for a long time. It has finally been decided to allocate it," he said.
The road will be connected to the Dharan-Chatara (Madan Bhandari) highway at Jurjure, the center of Bagmati village municipality of Makwanpur. Due to the lack of a paved road connecting the hilly region to the state capital Hetauda, located across the Mahabharat mountain range to the south of Kavrepalanchok, the local people's representatives are forced to suffer in traffic. Jimba said that if the roads are good, not only the people of Dandapari area but also the people of Dolakha, Ramechhap and Sindhupalchowk will benefit.
He said, "Currently, even the people's representatives of the district have to go through another district to reach the capital." Meanwhile, after the decision to allocate budget for the upgrade of the road, Bagmati Chief Minister Rajendra Pandey inspected the 165-meter-long bridge under construction on the Bagmati River and Ghartichhap of Mahabharat village last week along the road connecting Kavrepalancho to Hetauda. At present, only 12 percent of the bridge has been completed with an agreement of Rs. 110 million.
"The construction of the bridge started five years ago. We have given an ultimatum to the builders to continue the work of the bridge. Now it is very easy to go to the capital Hetauda through this route," said Chief Minister Pandey. According to him, the Pinthali-Mahabharat-Ghartichhap-Gokule road section will be continuously planned for additional budget in the next fiscal year.
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