Beshisahar-Manag road govt's top priority

KATHMANDU, April 3: The government is planning to give top priority to upgradation of the Beshishahar-Manang road as its new infrastructure project, while also giving continuity to major ongoing projects, including Mid-hill highway, in the supplementary budget for the ongoing fiscal.



Minister for Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW) Top Bahadur Raymajhi set the new priority after he visited both the road project sites recently. He instructed the ministry officials to include upgradation programs for Besishahar-Manang road and Dhurmi-Chatara section of the Mid-hill Highway.[break]



“Top priority projects such as Mid-hill Highway and Kathmandu-Tarai fast-track will not face resource crunch even if the government comes up with the supplementary budget,” said a senior official at MoPPW.



The government has earmarked Rs 1.21 billion and Rs 680 million in the current budget for Mid-hill highway and Kathmandu-Tarai fast track road respectively.



Projects registering bleak progress, however, would be affected as the Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently issued circular to low performing projects to submit surplus statement. Some road upgradation projects in Karnali are among the low performing ones.



The government is also mulling allocation of fresh budget for upgradation of 32 km section of 62 km-Besishahar-Manang road in the upcoming supplementary budget. Nepal Army is opening track for the road which is expected to establish transport link with Manang - a trans-Himalayan district.



“After formal handover, we can arrange domestic resources or approach donor agencies for upgradation projects that would require around Rs 400 million,” said the source.



A ministry official claimed that the pace of implementation of national priority projects has been satisfactory. If the pace is maintained, the government will complete 75 percent of the top priority projects by the end of this fiscal year, the source added.



The government is mulling possibility of including programs on “rainwater harvesting” and “ground water recharge” in major cities, including the Kathmandu Valley, where underground water level is fast receding.



Officials at the MoPPW, however, added that they are not optimistic about the effectiveness of the supplementary budget that the government is planning to introduce, as it will remain into effect for just over two months.



“Supplementary budget at this juncture is meaningless in terms of development and we are dead sure most of the programs will be “populist”, said the source.



Amid immense pressure from the UCPN-Maoist, the government is making preparation to introduce supplementary budget.

Related story

Kathmandu Road Division Office starts blacktopping road demolis...