Progress of road construction under National Pride Project lags behind target

Published On: February 15, 2024 08:15 AM NPT By: Himal Lamsal

KATHMANDU, Feb 15: The progress of road projects listed under the national pride project has been observed to be sluggish during the first six months of the current fiscal year. There are only seven road projects designated as national pride projects, but the physical advancement of all these projects has been slow.

It seems that most of the road projects have experienced reduced expenditure within the six months of the current fiscal year. The government has allocated a budget of Rs 3.95 billion for the Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway in the current year. Even after six months, the project has spent only 37.11 percent of the allocated budget, i.e. Rs 1.46 billion.

Out of the total length of 1,879 kilometers of the Pushpalal Highway, construction has commenced on 952 kilometers of roads under the project's purview. Additionally, construction of 462 kilometers of the highway is being executed by other agencies.

Out of the 137 bridges planned, only 120 have been completed so far. The Department of Roads (DoR) reports that the overall physical progress of this road section was 72.7 percent by mid-July of the previous fiscal year.

The government has allocated a budget of Rs 3.48 billion for the Postal Highway in the current fiscal year. Out of this, 44.35 percent i.e. Rs 1.54 billion has been spent so far.

Of the 1,857 kilometers of the Postal Highway, construction has been completed on 1,600 kilometers of road, along with the construction of 134 bridges.

The government had allocated Rs 3.60 billion for the North South Highway (Karnali, Kaligandaki Koshi) highways. Out of this, Rs 1.21 billion i.e. 33.8 percent have been spent so far.

The government allocated a budget of Rs 22.5 billion for the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhesh Fast Track (Expressway) project. However, only Rs 4.35 billion, or 19.37 percent, has been spent within the last six months of the current fiscal year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, in the current fiscal year, 21 national pride projects have achieved a total of 23.61 percent financial progress. The government had allocated a budget of Rs 65.64 billion for projects of national pride. Out of this, Rs 15.5 billion have been spent.