BELBARI: Around 35 per cent of construction of Kakadbhitta-Laukahi road section of the Asian Highway has been completed in two years. The Highway project is being constructed with the objective of connecting Asian countries through road network.

Chief of West Section Itahari Office under the project, Jagat Prajapati, shared that a single-lane blacktopping of the road towards west from Padajungi of Jhapa has begun from Sunday.

Although 120-kilometer road from Kakadbhitta to Laukahi under the Asian Highway No 2 is to be upgraded, construction activities are now underway only on 95.76 kilometers, he added.

Construction activities are underway by dividing the section into two parts—east section and west section. One-lane blacktopping of around 20 kilometers in both sections has been completed, Prajapati opined.

Similarly, Chief of East Section Damak Office, Sunil Babu Panta, informed that around 35 per cent construction work towards east section has also been completed, adding the construction activities would get momentum if there is smooth supply of construction materials.

Around 80 per cent work of relocating the electric poles on the East Section has been completed and around 40 per cent is over on the West Section, Panta said.

Twenty-three per cent progress has been achieved so far in construction of large bridges in east section while 25 per cent in west section, according to the Office.

The Asian Highway starts from Bangkok of Thailand and reaches Karachi of Pakistan through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, east-west highway from Kakadbhitta of Nepal and Delhi of India.

Construction of the road had been started since February 2, 2024 with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank with a target of completing it within three years. The estimated cost of the project is 300 million US dollar.

The road would be widened to 50 metres in urban areas, to 24 meters in the jungle area and to 33 meters in rural areas.