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Over 17m potential voters. A touch above 137,000 candidates. More than 35,000 positions up for grabs. The May 17 local elections will be a gargantuan undertaking any way you look at it.  

The ruling alliance of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janta Samajwadi Party have nominated common candidates in most local bodies.

The main opposition, CPN-UML, has also stitched alliances with small parties like Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party in some places, even though it is contesting major mayoral and municipal seats on its own.

There are also many promising independent youth candidates this time. Rapper and structural engineer Balen Shah, for instance, is running for mayor of Kathmandu. Ganesh Paudel, another independent, has filed candidacy for mayor of Pokhara. “Such youth candidates give local elections a breath of fresh air,” says civil society leader Shyam Shrestha.

Some provincial lawmakers are also in the mayor and chairperson race. Provincial lawmakers resigning to contest posts at the rural municipality level shows “how important the third tier of federalism has become,” says Shrestha. This, again, is “something to be celebrated”.  

But Shrestha is troubled by the ‘coalition culture’. So is Krishna Pokharal, a political scientist. “Even though there are plenty of independent candidates in the fray this time, electoral alliances have greatly reduced the options for the voting public,” he argues.   

Yet Pokharel still expects many new faces to emerge from the May 13 polls. In the previous local-level by-elections in 2019, people had thrown out many incumbents. “If they could so harshly evaluate their representatives in such a short time, I am expecting an even closer scrutiny this time.”

One thing is for sure: we are in for plenty of nail-biters. 

Also read: The May 13 vote at a glance

Covid-19 cases are surging in different states of India. The country’s positivity rate, which indicates the spread of the disease, has gone up to three percent from 0.5 percent—within a week. As Nepal shares a 1,850km-long open border with India, there is a risk of a coronavirus resurgence here as well. With local-level elections knocking on the door, political campaigns and rallies could also fuel the spread. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to Dr Anup Subedee, infectious disease consultant at Medharma CliniX. 

Can we predict the next covid wave in Nepal based on what is happening in India?

Cases in India directly impact Nepal, as we saw in the previous waves. But till this point, the new covid cases in India are yet to be thoroughly examined. So it is difficult to predict what will happen. Indian officials claim no new variant has been detected, but I doubt there has been enough research.  

Is the next wave the most likely scenario in Nepal?

If the new cases in India are of the current Omicron (BA.2) variant, there is a low probability of an outbreak, as two waves of a single variant are rare. An increase in new cases is not a new thing, as the covid trend suggests a rise in such cases every few months. This is both predicted and expected. 

Yet, every six months, we have seen a new variant too. If that happens, it could result in the next wave. But again, it is too early to predict because we have little information as of now. 

Could upcoming elections help with the spread of coronavirus? 

Hard to say. But mass demonstrations and political campaigns that took place in Kathmandu during the Delta variant surge had played a key role in previous outbreaks. So elections this time could also have an impact, as there will be more than usual mobility of people. Nepalis working in India will come home to vote. This could lead to the virus reaching various corners of the country. Everything depends on which variant it is—the old one or the new. 

Right now, we don’t have many cases, so there is nothing to panic about. But that also suggests we might not have conducted enough tests. Further, the Health Ministry doesn’t have real data. It is important to fill these gaps because we can’t prepare and fight effectively without real data. 

What do you suggest?

The holding centers and quarantines should be in working condition. We rushed to set up the infrastructure only after the pandemic hit the country. By that time, it was too late. So preparation is important. 

To some extent, our incompetence has also invited trouble. The vaccine campaign looks dormant at the moment. Many people don’t know the current vaccine situation in Nepal. There are eligible people who are yet to get the jabs. Some have refused to take them, but the government should convince them. Also, the vulnerable groups have not gotten their booster doses. Many have not even taken the second dose. 

Again, we have no proper data to track things down. For the current variant, the vaccines that are being given to Nepalis are fine, but there could be better options. The authorities should focus on importing more effective vaccines. 

How long do we need to keep taking booster doses?

Booster doses should be routinely administered unless a vaccine that provides lifelong immunity is invented. We should also import the most effective vaccines like Viral Vector (AstraZeneca) and RNA (Moderna, Pfizer). Novavax is also effective.

We wrap up our 10-part InDepth series on the Kathmandu-Tarai fast track project on a somber note. The 72.5km expressway comprises 55.5km of road, three tunnels with a combined length of 6.41km, and several bridges measuring a total of 10.59km. The project has been marred by years of delays and cost overruns—and these problems are likely to be compounded in the country’s new economic reality. The army has made a mess of it, handing out crucial bits to dodgy foreign contractors and taking its own sweet time even as it continues to ask for more and more money. 

Five years into the project, only 16.1 percent work has been completed. Land-compensation issues are yet to be settled. Tunnels yet to be cut through. Environmental concerns have been given a short shift. It is hard to be optimistic about the future of this ‘national pride project’ that has already cost the exchequer Rs 25.4bn. 

Either the project has to be scrapped without further delay or the state must ensure it is not pushed beyond its new January 2025 deadline. Our calculations suggest more delays could exponentially increase costs and make the project unviable. Time then for all the concerned to go back to the drawing board.

Full story here.

“We can complete the project by the deadline if the government allocates sufficient funds and settles land acquisition-related disputes.” 

This has been the refrain of the Nepal Army, the official contractor of Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road Project, at every press meet since it got the job on 11 Aug 2017. 

Over the years, the project has suffered numerous cost and time overruns, but the army hasn’t stopped repeating this excuse. The initial deadline was Sept 2021. But now it has been pushed to Jan 2025. Similarly, estimated project cost has gone up to Rs 213bn from the initial Rs 86bn. 

In its latest press meet held on Feb 22, the army insisted that the project was “on track despite some hurdles”. It also assured that work would pick up pace in the second half of 2022. 

The army aims for 21 percent overall progress by the end of this year. But with only 16.1 percent physical progress till date, experts doubt the goal will be achieved. In fact, some have even warned that the fast track could turn into another seemingly never-ending project, like the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Drinking Water Project. 

The 72.5km expressway, which will be the shortest route between Kathmandu and the Tarai, comprises 55.5km of road, three tunnels with a combined length of 6.41km, and several bridges measuring a total of 10.59km. 

Also read: Lack of fast track progress raises questions over Nepal Army’s credibility

Tunnel construction is among the most challenging and time-consuming parts of the project. The army has handed over the task to a pair of Chinese firms under two packages. 

The first, for the construction of Mahadevtar Tunnel, was given to China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. The second package for Dhedra & Lendanda Tunnels went to Poly Changda Engineering Co. Ltd. But the Public Procurement Committee of Parliament says these contracts were issued by breaching the country’s procurement regulations. 

Altogether 22 companies had expressed interest for the second package contract, but the army shortlisted only one of them—Poly Changda Engineering. Procurement regulations say more than one bidder must be shortlisted. 

The parliamentary committee’s direction to cancel the contract and call for a fresh bid was not heeded by the army. 

Questions were also raised over the selection of China State Construction Engineering for the first package of the tunnel deal, as the company had not made it past the pre-qualification bidding phase. 

Pre-qualification is the second phase of the bidding process where companies are shortlisted based on the strength of their technical documents. The third phase is where the shortlisted firms present their financial proposal and the project goes to the one that quotes the lowest price.

Also read: What if… the fast track project was completed on time?

The army has been accused of brazenly disregarding standard procurement practice while selecting these two Chinese companies.  

Earlier in 2019, the army had also courted controversy for allegedly leaking the evaluation criteria for the selection of consulting firms to potential bidders. The decision to select six international companies was eventually scrapped over the leak, which the army termed a “technical error”. 

Similarly, a government review committee in 2020 had opened an investigation after the army was accused of unduly favoring South Korea-based Yooshin Engineering Corporation while selecting a design and supervision consultant for the expressway. Later that same year, the Korean firm was blacklisted by the World Bank Group for fraudulent practices in an aviation project in Vanuatu. But Yooshin Engineering is still associated with the fast track. 

Those closely following the project say the army’s works thus far offer little assurance of the expressway’s timely and cost-effective completion. 

Bharat Kumar Shah, chairman of the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, says the project would have been completed on time had the army listened to the committee. 

“We had asked the Nepal Army to halt bridge and tunnel works following discrepancies in bidding, but it simply brushed aside our directive,” says Shah. “Had the army listened to us, a more capable company would have gotten the project and it could have been completed on time.” 

There are still elements of the fast track, mainly bridge construction, that the army is yet to invite bids for. 

Also read: Army veers off the environment track

Semanta Dahal, a lawyer and researcher, says the project won’t get the desired momentum until the remaining bids are called. He also stresses the need for procurement transparency. 

Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, a former government secretary, agrees. He says the project will miss its deadline if international contractors are not selected on time.

“The deadline could be pushed back by at least another year if there are more delays,” he says. 

The army, meanwhile, says that should the project get delayed, it won’t be because of its fault.  

Brig. Gen. Bikash Pokharel, the project head, says the government has not allocated enough budget. 

The year the fast track was handed over to the army, the government at the time had allocated Rs 1.35bn. Subsequent governments then earmarked Rs 8.6bn, Rs 5.97bn, Rs 4.46bn, and Rs 8.93bn respectively. To date, the army has only received Rs 25.4bn—and it requires almost Rs 63bn annually hereon in for timely completion. 

Hence the army’s contention that the expressway is not getting enough budget is not unfounded. 

Experts worry the more the project is delayed, the more the costs will rise. The National Planning Commission has already projected the expressway cost to balloon to Rs 300bn even if it is completed by the Jan 2025 deadline.   

The completion of Kathmandu-Tarai fast track is important for Nepal to meet its development goals. For this, the country must invest 13 to 15 percent of its GDP in infrastructure over the next two decades. But it has consistently failed to allocate the required budget. 

Also read: Destroyer of civilization?

In 2020, the government needed to allocate around $1.3bn on roads and highways alone. The eventual allocation fell well short of that. The country’s annual infrastructure spending is expected to reach $5.6bn by 2025 and $7.5bn by 2030. It’s clear that the government cannot finance such expensive infrastructure projects. 

With elections of all three tiers of government approaching and the country staring at a possible economic crisis, some observers already doubt the project’s feasibility. 

Govinda Raj Pokharel, a former NPC vice-chairman, says it is hard to believe the fast track will be completed on time, particularly in the current economic climate. 

“Construction materials need to be imported and with our foreign reserves depleting, the fast track’s fate hangs in the balance,” he says. 

There is also concern about the expressway’s feasibility. Separate feasibility studies by Japan and the Asian Development Bank had suggested the route could be underutilized, given the existence of many other road links between Kathmandu and the Tarai. 

Also, the estimated 90-minute travel time is applicable only for passenger buses and cars, not cargo trucks, which could take 5-7 hours to traverse the route.

Also read: What’s driving up land prices along the fast track?

A former government secretary says the expressway is not viable economically.

“The fast track cannot generate profit and will thus be a burden for the government,” he says. “The fast track also runs through an earthquake-prone area, presenting additional challenges.” 

The land acquisition and rezoning dispute in Khokana and Bungamati areas have also halted progress. The people of these two ancient Newa villages in Lalitpur district have long been protesting against the expressway, which, they fear, could destroy their culture and heritage. 

Moreover, the fast track is connected to other mega projects like Nijgadh International Airport, Outer Ring Road, dry ports, and other supporting highways. All their fates are tied to the expressway. 

But sluggish progress, ballooning cost, lack of transparency, and doubts about economic unviability threaten to turn the fast track into the proverbial white elephant.   

A recent Nepal Rastra Bank report suggests that property price in Kathmandu Valley is increasing at the rate of 27.7 percent a year, doubling the real estate value every 3.5 years. 

In fact, almost every developing area of Nepal is witnessing this phenomenon. Property-price appreciation is starker still in the Madhes province and the Tarai towns of Sudurpaschim province. 

Generally, in developing countries like Nepal, when an infrastructure project starts in an area, the value of nearby lands go up. And this is true in the case of Kathmandu-Tarai fast track.  

Almost 30km of the 72.5km expressway passes through agricultural land, which also includes some residential areas. There are two big settlements along the way: Khokana-Bungamati of Lalitpur and Nijgadh of Bara, which are also the start and end points of the under-construction motorway. 

Land prices have soared in Khokana-Bungamati and Nijgadh. But then it is not just the fast track that is driving up land values in these areas. 

Many high-profile people are buying lands from locals and pushing their value with the help of realtors, claim locals.   

When this reporter asked residents of the Shikali temple area in Khokana about the skyrocketing land value, they said ministers, ex-ministers, senior politicians, senior civil servants, judges, and other celebrities have made significant investments in local lands. 

These individuals are allegedly working in cahoots with realtors to jack up property prices. 

Some residents of Khokana also accuse the activists and leaders campaigning against the fast track of succumbing to greed and selling their lands. 

The people of Khokana and Bungamati have long been protesting against the expressway project, which, they fear, could erase the culture and heritage of these two ancient Newa villages. 

Nepal Man Dangol is among the leaders of a struggle committee against the fast track. But some villagers have accused him of “double standard” for selling a plot of his to the army and buying off properties close to the project site.  

In his defense, Dangol says he let the army acquire his land as he urgently needed money. The decision to sell the land was “approved by the struggle committee,” adds Dangol. 

He also doesn’t believe land prices in Khokana and Bungamati have been deliberately inflated. 

“In the outskirts of Kathmandu Valley, land prices have reached over Rs 5m an aana (an anna is 31.8 square meters),” he says. “Prices in Khokana are still around 3m an aana.” 

But Dangol’s claim doesn’t explain the sheer volume of land transactions taking place in Khokana. 

According to the Land Revenue Office, Lalitpur, 20 to 25 land plots in Khokana are bought and sold every month. Just a few years before, there were barely five land transactions a month. 

Locals say, in parts of Khokana, land value has quadrupled in a matter of years. 

And then there are also claims of CPN-UML, the main opposition party in the federal parliament, playing a role in making Khudol of Khokana the start point or ‘Kilometer Zero’ for the fast track.  

Although the project’s first draft had suggested Khudol as the fast track’s starting point, it was shifted 4km south to Farsidol of Bungamati following protests in May 2018. But the army again rezoned Khudol as Kilometer Zero without offering any explanation.  

Rabindra Maharjan, ward chair of Lalitpur Metropolitan City-21, says 300 Khokana residents had submitted a petition to the then Defense Minister Ishwar Pokhrel against Farsidol’s designation as the fast track’s entry point. 

“The majority of petitioners were from the UML faction of the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP),” he says. “You can guess why the Kilometer Zero mysteriously came back to Khudol.” 

But Maharjan himself is accused of abandoning the cause of Khokana-Bungamati residents. Many people say he started distancing himself from the campaign soon after he was elected ward chair. Maharjan denies the allegation. 

“I was the one to start the campaign,” he claims. “Many times, I have condemned the decision of my own party-led government in the Khokana case.” 

While the cause of Khokana and Bungamati residents may have been consigned to the back burner, the buying and selling of the now premium properties continue. 

Dangol, who seems to have fallen out of favor with Khokana residents, says allegations against him weaken the campaign. He says he is a businessman and his decision to invest in properties should not be misconstrued as a betrayal. 

“I have bought and leased lands in various parts of Kathmandu Valley, mainly for farming purposes,” he says. 

According to the army, compensations for 4,744 ropanis (a ropani is 508.74 square meters)—or 96.47 percent of the total land that needs to be acquired—have been handed out. But compensation for 427 ropanis of land is as yet unsettled due to the Khokana dispute. 

In Khokana, per ropani price of land has been set at Rs 4.4m, Rs 3.6m and Rs 2.5m, varying with location. In Bungamati, land has been valued at Rs 4.1m, Rs 3.3m, and 2.4m respectively. 

Elsewhere in the town of Nijgadh, the end point of the fast track, land prices have gone up as well. 

During ApEx’s ground reporting, our team interviewed Sanjay Lama, a local hotel owner and real estate investor. He never thought property value in the area would shoot up. 

“Real estate has boomed in Nijgadh,” he told us.  “Land prices have gone up almost 10 times in the past five years.” 

At the time of the interview, the price of a kattha (a kattha is 338.62 square meters) of land connected to the Mahendra Highway was about Rs 4m. Within a one-kilometer radius of the highway, the price was Rs 3m per kattha. 

Before the expressway plan, land price hadn’t crossed Rs 300,000 a kattha, according to Lama. 

Since Nijgadh will be the nearest Tarai town from Kathmandu after the construction of the fast track, many industrialists have bought lands there. Some have bought up to 50 bighas (one bigha is equal to 2528.81 square meters) of land to set up factories. 

Most of these land buyers are from Kathmandu, Makwanpur, Jhapa, Chitwan, Morang, Sarlahi, Saptari, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha and Surkhet districts. 

Lama conceded that competition between local realtors had, to an extent, contributed to land-price hikes. 

The fast track also passes through parts of Makwanpur district, but land rates there have not witnessed drastic changes. 

In Makawanpurgadhi Rural Municipality, for instance, there has been no noticeable change in land transactions, both in terms of price and frequency.   

Says Harka Maya Rumba, vice chairperson of the rural municipality, even though some people had plotted their land in the initial days of the fast track construction, they could not get buyers. 

“People were not interested in investing here as there are unlikely to be arterial roads connecting the villages to the expressway,” she adds. 

Around 96.47 percent of the land-acquisition process for the Kathmandu-Tarai expressway has been completed—save for the stretch in Bungamati and Khokana areas of Lalitpur district. The army says land-acquisition in these places have been halted over a compensation row. But the halt has more to do with the cultural significance of these areas.  

As the town planning principles and traditional architecture of Kathmandu valley were transplanted to Khokana and Bungamati in the seventh century, these settlements represent not just a Newari townscape. They also have architectural, aesthetical, and symbolic values. 

The expressway’s construction through these areas will destroy several heritage sites and ancient settlements. Besides the fast track, seven other projects are proposed in these areas. These “development undertakings” could further impact the local heritage, fear experts.  

In 1996, King Birendra had proposed Khokana as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, the village is at risk, says Sanjay Adhikari, a public interest litigator for natural and cultural heritage.  

“The 27-meter-wide expressway will destroy the proposed heritage site,” he says. “The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, of which Nepal is a signatory, as well as our constitution, advocate for the rights of indigenous people. But we are ignoring our commitment.” 

Full story here.

The Nepal Army, which has been constructing the 72.5km fast track to link Kathmandu with Bara district in the Tarai, says 96.47 percent of the project’s land-acquisition process has been completed. What remains unsettled are the properties in the Bungamati and Khokana areas of Lalitpur district.

The army says land-acquisition in these places have been halted over a compensation row. But the ground reality is different. The halt has more to do with the cultural significance of these two areas than land issues.  The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had hinted of the challenges of securing land for the 6 km-stretch of the expressway in Lalitpur. As the area is part of the ancient Newa heritage and a site of various cultural and religious ceremonies, the EIA report had given a heads-up to the project developer. As anticipated, there was fierce pushback from the residents of Bungamati and Khokana when the time came to open a track for the expressway. 

As the town planning principles and traditional architecture of the principal cities of Kathmandu valley were transplanted to Khokana and Bungamati in the seventh century, these settlements represent not just a Newari townscape. They also have great architectural, aesthetical, and symbolic values. 

Also read: ApEx Explainer: The what, where and when of the fast track

Earliest human settlement in the valley is thought to have started here. Naturally, the locals are against the expressway as they fear the fast track will obliterate their closely-guarded heritage and culture. Cultural experts say Bungamati and Khokana are home to Hindu and Buddhist socio-cultural values, and local arts and crafts industry. This heritage, they say, is sustained by the locals who still practice and celebrate ancient rituals and festivals. 

The expressway’s construction through these areas will destroy several heritage sites and ancient settlements—and with them a civilization.

Besides the fast track, seven other projects are proposed and even being carried out in these areas. These “development undertakings” could further impact the local heritage, fear experts.  

In 1996, King Birendra had proposed Khokana for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the proposal, Khokana was described as a unique village, a model of a medieval settlement pattern with a system of drainage and chowks. The mustard-oil seed industry was called the ‘living heritage’ of the village. 

Today, the entire village is at risk, says Sanjay Adhikari, a public interest litigator for natural and cultural heritage who has been closely following the fast track project.  

“The 27-meter-wide expressway will destroy the proposed heritage site,” he says. “The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, of which Nepal is a signatory, as well as our constitution, advocate for the rights of indigenous people. But we are ignoring our commitment.” 

Also read: Army veers off the environment track

Bungamati and Khokana are well known for Rato Machhindranath and Shikali Jatra. These places are built in the shape of Swastika, according to Hindu mythology. The fast track could distort these features. Besides, there is also the risk of Katuwal Daha, a pool whose water is used in Rato Machhindranath Jatra, getting encroached, or worse, buried. 

Similarly, Kumari Chaur, the courtyard of the living Goddess Kumari where the victory of Bhawani Devi is celebrated on the night of Navami, will be completely encroached by the fast track. The practice of Pahanchahre, a festival celebrated on the eve of Ghodejatra, will also stop. 

The Newars of Khokana don’t celebrate major Hindu festivals like the Dashain. They rather consider Shikali Jatra as their biggest festival. 

Also read: Lack of fast track progress raises questions over Nepal Army’s credibility

The construction of a fast track will erase these ancient villages, heritages and rare cultural practices, warns Nepal Man Dangol, who leads a struggle committee for the conservation of Khokana. 

“Rather than solving the issues, the army, police, and government have been using force to suppress our movement to protect our heritage and culture,” he says. “We are determined not to allow them to resume construction here.”

Cultural functions performed in public spaces, religious structures, and agricultural lands are the foundations of these Newari settlements. The gradual shift in the economic base from agriculture to service and the demise of traditional social institutions were already endangering local culture. 

Dangol fears the fast track could be the final nail in the coffin of their heritage. 

Also read: What if… the fast track project was completed on time?

The fast track also violates article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that stipulates that everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, enjoy the arts, and share in scientific advancement and its benefits. 

It also breaches article 15.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and articles 7, 8 and 23 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

While the fast track could potentially put the ancient villages of Khokana and Bungamati in jeopardy, the impact of its construction elsewhere is starkly different. 

In the village of Lendanda in Makwanpur district, which is just a 1.5 hours off-road drive from Hetuada, the fast track is viewed as a boon.  

When the expressway comes into operation, they say it won’t take them more than 30 minutes to reach Kathmandu. 

Also read: A whiff of partisan, geopolitical interference

“Not only will our access to hospitals and schools improve, we will also be able to build more of them right here in our own village,” says Biru Tamang, a Lendanda villager. 

Roads connect nearby inter- and intra-communities with markets as well as health and education facilities. They also improve access to facilities like water, sanitation and electricity, create jobs and diversify sources of income.

Laya Prasad Uprety, professor of anthropology at the Tribhuvan University, says while road connectivity is vital to improve people’s living standards, it also comes with some negatives. 

“Yes, roads can spur growth and improve people’s lifestyle, but they can also damage the culture and heritage of indigenous communities,” he says.

“Development also means an incursion of modern norms and values and they could displace indigenous culture,” says Uprety.  

Rural areas, by and large, have acted as producer communities. The new infrastructures could turn them into consumer communities. There is also the risk of organic agricultural practices being displaced. For instance, it is hard to find organic agricultural produce these days as the seeds and fertilizers of multinational companies have penetrated all corners of the country. 

“So, you see, the roads can be both a boon and a bane,” says Uprety. 

Nepali political parties are experts at claiming credit, shifting blame and rewarding themselves while dealing with big development projects. Mothballing of projects started by the preceding government is also nothing new. 

As ApEx takes a deep dive into the construction of Kathmandu-Tarai fast track, a national pride project, our team investigated behind-the-scenes maneuverings to influence the road’s progress for the benefit of certain parties, leaders—or even countries.

The 72.5km expressway linking Kathmandu valley with Bara district in the Tarai was envisioned decades ago. Work, however, started in earnest only in 2017 after the Maoist-led government handed the project to Nepal Army. 

Earlier in 2014, the Sushil Koirala government had awarded the fast track to the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), an Indian company, a decision which was later challenged in the Supreme Court. The petitioners had deemed the project cost too high. In response, the court on 9 Oct 2015 directed the government to halt all related work.

China had also been unhappy with the Koirala government’s decision to give fast track to an Indian company, says a former secretary of the Nepal government requesting anonymity.

The subsequent CPN-UML-led government under KP Sharma Oli terminated all agreements signed with the IL&FS.

In the meantime, the army started lobbying for the project. Its stars were aligned with the next government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal that was not in favor of an Indian company getting the mega-project. Dahal then chose the army to complete it. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Maoist chairman to rebuild ties with the army that had been badly strained following his 2009 sacking of army chief Rukmangud Katawal. Dahal is also rumored to have leaned on the army to involve Chinese companies in the project.

Also read: Army veers off the environment track

But since then such instances of clear favoritism have been hard to find in relation to the fast track.

Aman Lal Modi, a CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker, says although the project started under the Maoist-led government, his party would not try to take all the credit.

Similarly, when CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal recently inspected fast track sites, many saw it as posturing to impress his constituency in Rautahat, which is near Nijgadh, the expressway’s end point.  

However, Unified Socialist lawmaker Parbati Bishunkhe also dismisses the allegation that Nepal was trying to make a “political statement”. “As a responsible politician and former prime minister, it is his duty to oversee the mega-project’s progress,” she says.

Several governments have come and gone since work on the fast track began in 2017, but the project—originally slated for November 2021 completion—is nowhere near done. Every year, billions of rupees are being allocated for it, but the army says the money is still insufficient. The cost overruns are, meanwhile, bleeding the state’s coffers.  

Representatives of major parties tell ApEx that while there is no competition to take credit, the common concern was regarding lack of budget for timely project completion.

“Is it even possible to allocate enough budget for the project? This should be our primary concern, not whether this or that political party is trying to influence the project,” says Ganesh Kumar Pahadi, a CPN-UML lawmaker.

Nepal must invest 13 to 15 percent of its GDP in infrastructure over the next two decades to meet its development goals. On highways and roads alone, the government needed to allocate around $1.3bn in 2020. The eventual allocation fell well short of that. The country’s annual infrastructure spending is expected to reach $5.6bn by 2025 and $7.5bn by 2030. It’s clear that the government cannot finance infrastructure projects requiring such huge investments. 

Plenty of money has already been spent. When Krishna Bahadur Mahara was the finance minister in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government, he had allocated Rs 1.35bn for the expressway in the fiscal year 2017-18. His successor Yubaraj Khatiwada of the UML then allocated Rs 10.13bn, Rs 15.93bn, and Rs 15.01bn respectively in the subsequent fiscal years. All three of these latter allocations were revised to Rs 8.6bn, Rs 5.97bn, and Rs 4.46bn.

Then, former finance minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel of the UML allocated Rs 8.93bn for the project through an ordinance. The current Finance Minister Janardan Sharma approved the allocation in the latest budget.

But the army could still struggle to complete the expressway by the new January 2025 deadline. The estimated fast-track cost, initially projected at Rs 86bn, has already reached a whopping Rs 213bn. 

With elections of all three tiers of government approaching, it would be difficult to allocate sufficient budget for the fast track in the coming years as well, providing the army another handy excuse to yet again push back the deadline. 

The army’s work has not been satisfactory. There have been complaints over lack of transparency, violation of public procurement laws and breach of environmental regulations while building the expressway. 

For instance, complaints have been filed with the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives that the army hired a couple of Chinese companies for the project without due process. 

This happened at a time when the Oli-led government had dissolved the lower house of Parliament in Dec 2020. As there was no relevant lower-house committee to file a complaint, the case was taken up by the National Affairs and Coordination Committee of the upper house.

“In the absence of the House of Representatives, the communist parties that favored the entry of the Chinese company let the army continue with the hiring process,” says a senior journalist who has been closely following the fast track project development. 

But Radheshyam Adhikari, a former National Assembly member from the Nepali Congress, denies wrongdoing on the part of political parties. Adhikari was in the assembly’s National Affairs and Coordination Committee when it investigated the complaint against the army.

“We studied the case thoroughly and made recommendations in line with national interest,” he says. “We believe the national pride project is good for the country and its citizens and it shouldn’t be stopped at any cost.”