Multi-storey buildings on right-of-way slow road widening drive

Dipak Prasad Gautam, Birgunj (Parsa), July 26: The road widening project along the Tribhuvan Highway in Birgunj Metropolitan City has slowed as authorities have begun demolishing multi-storey buildings that fall within the 25-metre road right-of-way on both sides of the highway.

The work has become more challenging in the Maisthan, Adarshanagar, Ghantaghar and Birta Bazaar areas, where numerous multi-storey buildings lie within the designated 25-metre boundary, making demolition more time-consuming.

According to Durga Prasad, an engineer at the Hetauda Road Division Office and the focal person for the Birgunj project, some buildings require only partial demolition while others must be completely dismantled, significantly delaying the work.

He said considerable time has been spent demolishing parts of the four-storey building of Narayani Central Hospital, sections of the three-storey Krishna Hospital building, several private multi-storey buildings near Birta Temple, some four-storey private buildings south of Narayani Hospital and around two dozen four- and five-storey buildings in the Adarshanagar area.

Most buildings between Adarshanagar and Maisthan are also multi-storey, making the demolition in that stretch equally difficult.

Prasad said it took an entire day on Friday to demolish just three or four buildings near Ghantaghar, while part of the Dabur building still remains to be removed. 

Since most buildings between Ghantaghar and Maisthan are multi-storey, the demolition process is expected to continue at a slow pace. The road expansion campaign has become increasingly complex as it moves into the densely built-up commercial areas of the city.

In the first phase of the campaign, on April 19 and 20, the Department of Roads used bulldozers to partially demolish around 1,200 houses and buildings along the main road. 

Property owners were then given 25 days to remove the remaining portions of structures that encroached on the road boundary.

As many structures remained even after the deadline expired, the department launched the second phase of the road widening campaign last Friday, which continued until Wednesday. 

The work was suspended on Thursday due to the Gahawamai Rath Yatra festival and extreme heat before resuming on Friday. By Friday evening, around a dozen small and large buildings in the Ghantaghar area had been demolished.

According to Raj Kumar Aryal, a Nayab Subba at the Hetauda Road Division Office, the demolition drive began on Sunday morning in line with an earlier Supreme Court ruling and a decision of the federal government.

The campaign aims to widen the main road from Gandak Chowk to Miteri Bridge to meet the national highway standard of 25 metres on each side. 

The project involves removing encroaching structures, including 29 government office buildings and around 1,200 privately owned buildings.