Kathmandu, June 28 -- Construction of the long-delayed second phase of Kathmandu's Ring Road widening project will begin only after Dashain, despite Nepal and China completing most of the preparatory work and moving closer to finalising the project's design.

The project has faced repeated delays over the years, first because of slow preparatory work on the Nepali side and later due to delays in the arrival of Chinese technical teams. Although official procedures have now largely been completed, construction has yet to begin.

A delegation led by Arjun Prasad Aryal, chief of the Development Cooperation Implementation Division under the Department of Roads, recently returned from China after holding discussions on the final design.

"We pr...