KATHMANDU, July 10: The Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee (SDGGC) under the National Assembly, the upper house of the federal parliament, has directed the Ministry of Health and Population to provide vaccines against COVID-19 to all laborers working at the projects of national pride.

The instruction from the upper house panel was given after receiving information from the road department and project head of Nagdhunga Tunnel Road Project regarding the problems and challenges faced during the construction. According to Nareshman Shakya, project director of the Nagdhunga Tunnel Project, work has been affected after 86 people including foreigners tested positive for COVID-19. “As many as 600 workers are continuously working for the project. They need to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” he said.

The project had also constructed a 32-bed isolation center with a doctor after realizing the risk of corona infection among the workers. However, due to the large number of workers getting infected at once, the construction of the project has been severely affected. Only 15.9 percent of the tunnel project is complete so far. The construction is affected due to various challenges such as lack of experience in road tunnel construction, continuous demands and lack of positive attitude towards the project from the locals. 

The SDGGC has also decided to inspect the progress of the tunnel project in a few days. According to Tara Devi Bhatta, chairperson of the committee, the meeting decided to draw the attention of the Ministry of Finance to resolve the misunderstanding over the value added tax and allocation of a more than required budget for the project. The committee has also directed the bodies concerned to complete the work of the tunnel project on time and keep the details including the updated progress on the website of the department.

The committee has directed the Department of Roads to pay attention to the ongoing projects and the quality of the bridges and to come up with the reasons for the collapse of many bridges this year. In the meeting, Arjun jung Thapa, director general of the Department of Road had informed the committee about the overall status of the project and the progress of road construction across the country. The construction cost of the 2.69 km long Nagdhunga tunnel is Rs 16 billion with a time period of 4 years.   

The operation cost of the tunnel after its completion is estimated to be Rs 44.1 million annually. The construction of the tunnel has continued despite the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19.

 
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