The ongoing economic crisis is also likely to affect the project’s progress, as the government is not in a position to inject sufficient funds, adds Sitaula.
Another reason why the fast-track work hasn’t picked up the desired pace is the court cases against the NA on various contract-related issues. According to sources, the Army is seeking another two-year deadline extension for the project. The Ministry of Defense is likely to approve the deadline extension request, provided the NA gives its assurance that it will complete the work. Sources say the Ministry has sought a revised proposal including the project cost from the Army. The government awarded the NA the contract to develop the mega infrastructure project on May 4, 2017. According to the 69th annual report of the Office of the Auditor General, the project has spent Rs 2.76bn (8.04 percent) of the total expenditure so far on purposes unrelated to the project. Similarly, the project has spent Rs 1.53bn (4.48 percent) of the total expenditure on consultancy services. It's worth noting that the consultant's contract is not based on the project cost or scope, but rather on the project duration. This means that if the project is not completed on time, the consultant will have to be paid additional fees. The OAG has found that the project has paid Rs 52.94m for the services of two consultants, despite already hiring an international consultant for similar services. The OAG has deemed this expense inappropriate and has highlighted it in its report. Stating that frequent changes in key personnel of the project could impact its quality, the OAG has recommended that the project should make necessary arrangements to avoid such changes, except in situations prescribed in the public procurement regulations. Although Section 4 of the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract guidelines requires offices to obtain pre-approval from the concerned ministry before initiating procurement through the EPC model, the fast-track project awarded contracts worth Rs 8.82bn for five packages prepared by consultants under the EPC, lumpsum, and item rate contract methods. The OAG had previously highlighted in its 59th annual report that the project office disqualified 21 bidders and awarded the contract to only one qualified contractor for Package 2 (tunneling works). Rs 6.32bn of the package's total cost of Rs 24.23bn has been spent. The project still needs to acquire 392 ropanis of land for the project's right-of-way, out of the targeted 5,172 ropani that should have been acquired by last year. Additionally, there has been no progress in acquiring an additional 49.3 ropanis for river training works, 49 ropanis for tunnel management and building, and 11 ropanis for the Mahadevtar base camp, as per the OAG report. Furthermore, the report indicates that the project office has not provided information regarding additional costs incurred for consultancy services related to river training works. The project had hired a separate consultant for this work, as noted by the OAG. Despite the fact that the cost of extending electricity lines and installation of transformers is supposed to be covered by the contractor company, the project office has paid Rs 18.27m to the Nepal Electricity Authority. The OAG has advised the project office to recover this amount, but it has not done so yet. The OAG has also noted that the project office has not maintained proper records of the sand and aggregates excavated during construction works, as required by the law. The project office has failed to meet the legal requirement of transplanting 25 saplings for every tree felled by the project. Altogether, 27,370 trees have been felled so far, which means that it needs to transplant 684,250 saplings. However, the NA has only transplanted 614,595 saplings to date. The project involves the construction of 72.5 km roadway, 87 bridges, tunnels, interchanges, toll plazas, and rest areas, among other features. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 213.95bn, which includes environmental and social costs as well as contingencies. The project office has released Rs 3.07 billion mobilization amount for three packages so far. However, the contractor of Package No. 3 was provided Rs 432.26m under a second installment on a different bank account even before the design work was approved. The project office has been found preparing cost estimation of Packages 1 and 2 even before getting norms for tunneling works approved by the government. The estimated cost of Package 1 was Rs 24.21bn while the contracted amount is Rs 21.51bn. Similarly, the estimated cost of Package 2 was Rs 29.32bn while the contract amount was Rs 28.53bn. The project hasn't prepared the design of a 6.4-kilometer section in Cluster 1 of the Khokana area due to a land acquisition dispute with the local people. The NA is requesting the government to resolve the issues surrounding the Khokana area, but nothing has come of it yet. The mega infrastructure project aims to connect Kathmandu to the southern plains through a six-lane expressway. The project is expected to significantly reduce travel time and boost economic growth in the region. Info for front page and box for second page
- Details of Financial Progress:
| S.No. | Particulars | FY 073/74 | FY 074/75 | FY 075/76 | FY 076/77 | FY 077/78 | FY 078/79 | FY 079/80 Till Poush |
| i. | Total Budget (billion) | 1.35 | 10.13 | 15.39 | 15.01 | 8.93 | 8.92 | 30.07 |
| ii. | Revised Budget (billion) | 1.35 | 8.60 | 5.97 | 4.46 | 8.93 | 8.92 | - |
| iii. | Expenditures (billion) | 1.34 | 7.63 | 5.73 | 1.96 | 8.73 | 8.89 | 1.59 |
| iv. | Financial Progress % | 99.25 | 95 | 96.43 | 44.04 | 97.34 | 99.61 | 5.3 |
| v. | Total expenditures (billion) | 1.34 | 8.97 | 14.70 | 16.66 | 25.40 | 34.29 | 35.88 |
| आयोजनाको आ.व. ०७८र०७९ सम्मको खर्च तथा आगामी आ.व. हरूमा प्रक्षेपित खर्च | ||
| क्र.स. | विवरण | खर्च |
| १ | २०७८/७९ सम्मको खर्च | ३४.२९ अर्ब |
| २ | २०७९/८० प्रक्षेपित खर्च | ३०.०७ अर्ब |
| ३ | २०८०/८१ प्रक्षेपित खर्च | ६६.८० अर्ब |
| ४ | २०८१/८२ प्रक्षेपित खर्च | ४४.२४ अर्ब |
| जम्मा | १७५.४ | |
