After two years and two months since the commencement of the development of the Nagdhunga Tunnel, half of the construction of Nepal's first modern tunnel road project has been completed. The progress report provided by the Japanese contractor Hazma Ando Corporation for the month of February shows the physical progress of the project so far has reached 50.15 percent. The company started the construction work of the tunnel in December 2020. According to the report, the financing progress of the project has reached 70.50 percent. The Nagdhunga Tunnel road project is being built with a subsidized loan of Rs 16.63bn from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and an investment of Rs 5.85bn from the Nepal government. The government and Hazma Ando signed the contract agreement for the development of the project in September 2019. The Japanese contractor started the construction work 14 months later in December 2020. After the completion of the highway tunnel, it will connect Nagdhunga in Kathmandu to Sisnekhola in Dhading. As part of this project, two parallel tunnels are being constructed in Nagdhunga to facilitate vehicles entering the capital from the western parts of the country. The physical progress of the tunnel under the project has reached 79.20 percent. The length of the main tunnel in the project is 2,688 meters. So far, 1,869 meters of tunnels have been constructed. 893 meters from east (Kathmandu) and 976 meters from west (Nagdhunga) tunnels have been excavated.

Similarly, the total length of the auxiliary (evacuation) tunnel is 2,557 meters. So far, 2,127 meters of tunnels have been dug. 1,147 meters from the east and 980 meters from the west tunnel have been dug. The project has targeted to break through the tunnel within the coming June. As for the working audit, 100 percent i.e. 126 meters has been completed, while 74 meters of cross-passage has been constructed which has a total length of 128 meters.

Remaining work to be completed in a year The Nagdhunga Tunnel road project is obliged to complete the remaining half of the project in a year. The initial deadline for the project was set for April 2023 which was extended by 86 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic obstructions. After the time was added, the project should have been completed by July 2023. However, as it appeared that the project will not be completed within the period, the deadline has recently been extended by nine months as per the company's demand. Madhav Adhikari, Information Officer of the project said that now the company will complete the rest of the work by April 25, 2024. However, the latest progress report has shown that it will be a challenge to complete the rest of the project within the new deadline. The construction of 11 out of 12 structures to be built under the project has been completed. According to the details provided by the project office, the construction of three underpasses and four box culverts (structures where water flows under vehicles) has been completed. Also, the construction of one overpass and three bridges has been completed and only the flyover is under construction. Besides, two foundations and two auxiliary structures which will be under the flyover have been prepared. Besides, the design of the flyover is also in the final stage and the construction will start after the design is ready. The total cost of the Nagdhunga Tunnel road project has been estimated at Rs 22.14bn. Contractor seeks compensation for the damages due to closure of crushers Hazma Ando, the contractor of the project, is seeking compensation from the government for the losses it incurred when the project work halted after the government shut down the illegal crushers. The work related to the digging of the tunnel stopped for almost two weeks in January. The ballast needed for the project comes from the stones that come out of the tunnel. However, sand is brought from outside. There was a shortage of sand and the digging of tunnels was halted when the government took action against illegal crushers. It has been known that Hazma Ando has already sent a message to the project office to ask for compensation. A senior official of the project said that the project will submit a claim for compensation soon.