Nepal Army urges continuing work on Tarai Fast Track
MAKWANPUR, APR 11 -
The Nepal Army has requested the government to give continuity to further construction work on the highly prioritised Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track project. The road’s track opening, which was done by the army, has been completed. The highway is designed to provide an express link between Kathmandu and the Tarai plains as a substitute for the circuitous route being used presently.
On Monday, Nepal Army officers involved in the track opening work asked the inspection team headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Tulasi Prasad Sitaula to start additional construction before landslides affect the road.
“There is a possibility of landslides burying the track if construction work is not continued,” said Bhagwan Karki, chief of the Nepal Army ’s Karyadal Battalion 1. “The Nepal Army has completed the assigned task. If construction work is discontinued, there is a risk that the government’s investment might go in vain.”
Karki urged the government team to award the contract to construction firms to carry out further work before the rainy season starts. This is the first time that government officials have made an inspection visit after the track was completed. Light vehicles presently travel to Nijgadh from Chalnakhel over this route.
“We have not paid compensation for the houses, sheds and gardens which were removed in the course of the track opening. This created problems in different places during the construction work. We opened the track convincing the local people that compensation would be provided,” said Colonel Uddhab Bista of the Nepal Army ’s development and construction taskforce.
The army took around 39 months to open 80 km of track of the highway along with a service track. The length of the track increased a bit as the army had to open another route in the absence of bridges in some places through which the Fast Track will be built. The Nepal Army finished work on the project on Army Day. It had been assigned the project in November 2009.
“Work was delayed due to compensation-related problems,” said another official of the Nepal Army . The government is yet to complete distributing compensation for land acquired by the project. However, project chief Rajendra Sharma said there would be no problem in paying compensation for the houses, sheds and gardens acquired during the track opening process.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
