November 9: With only two years left to complete the Pushpalal Mid-Hill Highway, the boundaries of the national pride project have not yet been determined. Although the width of the national highway is generally considered to be 25/25 meters, it has not been possible to determine the boundaries of the highway. 

The Pushpalal Highway Project Directorate has informed that the land required for the construction of the two-lane highway is not available yet. Project chief Arjun Prasad Aryal said that the project has not been able to provide compensation to all the affected households while compensation has been distributed only on the section that falls under the construction funded by foreign aid. Aryal said that the problem has arisen due to the unequal distribution of compensation. “We are facing problem because we have not been able to acquire the land required for construction of the highway,” he said. 

There is a problem in some places as the route has to cross the market area by demolishing houses. This problem has surfaced in Sundar Bazaar of Lamjung, Bhorletar Ram Bazaar and Bhanse-Bajpatan-Yamdi bridge of Kaski. 

There is a legal provision that a contract cannot be signed without completing the process of land acquisition. Aryal said that due to the property rights guaranteed by the constitution, the project directorate cannot build roads on the personal property against the owner’s will. 

The project informed that the land dispute has not been resolved in the roads that have already been constructed. Aryal said that the problem is that some of the lands where roads are being operated are still in the name of individuals. According to him, the government should formulate new law and bring the road in its name. 

He said that this problem is also present in other projects and the information should be published in the Nepal Gazette by determining the boundaries of strategic roads. He said, “Once the road demarcation and road boundaries have been finalized, the land acquisition and handover to the project should be done in a simple and quick way.” 

On one hand, the government is planning to widen the existing roads, while on the other hand, the locals are demanding to reduce the width of the existing highways.

As of mid-October, the physical progress of the project is 58.35 percent and the financial progress is 63.85 percent. The project has spent 6.28 percent of the allocated budget this year.

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