Today marks a significant milestone in the construction of the Siddhababa tunnel, with the breakthrough of its main tunnel, a national pride project.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced the breakthrough amidst a ceremony virtually a while ago.
With this, the construction of the one kilometer 89 meters tunnel from the upper Siddhababa Temple on the Butwal-Tansen road section under the Siddhartha Highway has been broken through.
Three bypasses had been completed earlier.
In 2078 BS, the Department of Roads had awarded the contract for the tunnel construction to a Chinese company through an international bidding process.
The China State Construction Engineering Corporation had won the contract for Rs 7.34 billion, with the tunnel to be completed in five years.
Despite the tunnel breakthrough, it will still take an additional year before the tunnel is operational for vehicles.
While the total physical progress of the tunnel is 40.18 percent, the financial progress is 39.90 percent. The tunnel work is planned to be completed in 2083 BS.
.
