Blacktopping has started in the western section of Tanahun under the Mugling-Pokhara road expansion project.

The Mugling-Pokhara road project (west section) has begun blacktopping the road from Shukla Gandaki Municipality-2, Haledi of the district under the Jamune-Pokhara section.

Engineer and Information Officer Narayan Poudel shared that 420-meter one-way blacktopping was done on the first day on Thursday. According to him, the target is to blacktop the one-way five kilometer section by March 13. He further shared that blacktopping will also be done from Jamune of Myagde Rural Municipality and Belchautara of Shuklagandaki Municipality from today onward. "Now the work will be expedited and the blacktopping work will continue. Necessary human resources and equipment are ready".

In the first phase, only one-way blacktopping will be done and two-way will be taken ahead once the one-way work is completed, he said.

The road project has taken forward the blacktopping using asphalt technology. Under the western section, the work from Jamune to Pokhara had started from 29 August 2021 after signing an agreement on 14 May 2021.

The contract for the construction of the section was awarded to the Chinese Company, Yanhui Kaiyun Highway and Bridge Construction at a cost of Rs 7.40 billion. The deadline for completing the construction of the western section is August 2024.

Shankar Panta, a local, said they have become optimistic after the blacktopping started. "The locals who were fed up with the dust and mud on the road are happy with the blacktopping work making progress after a long time since the road expansion started," he said.

He further said they would also continuously monitor to ensure quality in the construction works.

The work progress in the section of the Mugling-Pokhara road expansion project has been quite slow.

As shared, materials needed for blacktopping the 20-km section in the western part have been arranged.

Likewise, around 20-km of the eastern section has already been blacktopped. The contract for the eastern section was awarded to China Communications Construction. It has a deadline of mid-May 2024.