Kathmandu, June 25
The Kanti Rajpath connecting Hetaunda of Makawanpur district and Kathmandu Valley is getting blacktopped around 60 years after the road was constructed.
The 90-kilometre road has been being used as a shorter alternative to Hetaunda-Narayangadh-Muglin-Kathmandu (226 km) and Hetaunda-Palung-Kathmandu (126 km) roads. However, it was not blacktopped since the construction in late 1960s.
The blacktopping will be complete by April 2019, according to Devendra Prasad Sah, Chief of the project.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 1.85 billion. The government had released Rs 600 million for the project this fiscal year. The equal amount has been allocated for the next year as well.
If the project carried out the blacktopping at an expected pace, the Ministry of Finance will allocate the sufficient budget for another year, according to Sah.
Meanwhile, the road expansion work is also going on in parallel.
Nearly one dozen construction companies have been contracted for different segments of the 90-kilometre road.
After the blacktopping, locals of various villages in southeastern Lalitpur and northeastern Makawanpur will get direct benefits.
Likewise, it will ease supply of various commodities to Kathmandu Valley as the road brings Nepal-India trade and transit point of Birgunj closer to Kathmandu.
