The Narayanghat-Butwal road section in Daunne will now be closed to traffic for five hours during the day and six hours at night to carry out road expansion work.
A meeting of stakeholders from Nawalparasi East and West held in Daunne on Saturday decided to close traffic and expedite road widening work, informed Police Inspector Janak Banjara, Chief of the District Traffic Office, Nawalpur.
According to him, the road expansion work will be carried out by stopping vehicles for five days from 11 am to 3 pm from Chaitra 27 to 31 and from Baisakh 1 to 15 from 11 pm to 5 am.
The agreement was reached after discussions between stakeholders from both districts on the issue after the passengers were inconvenienced by the 10-hour journey to cross the Daunne section, despite the recent rapid work on the Daunne section. In the Daunne section, the passengers have been inconvenienced by the construction company working in a way that is more convenient for them than for the passengers.
While it normally takes 2 to 4 hours to cross the 14-kilometer stretch of Daunne road, in the last few days it has taken 8 to 10 hours to cross this 14-kilometer stretch.
The journey to Daunne has become difficult due to large potholes in places, dusty roads up to two feet deep, and one-way traffic in most places where culvert construction work is underway.
The dust has made it difficult to see the road, and locals have said that the dust has caused great suffering. The traffic police have been deployed 24 hours a day in Daunne, as the road is completely blocked and reopened only one way, said Banjara, head of the District Traffic Office.