Home Minister Gurung Inspects Damaged BP Highway, Directs Strategic Disaster Preparedness

Kavrepalanchok. Home Minister Sudhan Gurung today conducted an on-site inspection of the damaged sections of the BP Highway in the Roshi area of Kavrepalanchok, which suffered significant destruction last year. He held discussions with stakeholders regarding the extent of the damage and potential future disasters.

During the inspection, Minister Gurung emphasized the need for proactive disaster management. He instructed security chiefs to remain in a state of strategic readiness, drawing lessons from past incidents to ensure effective preparedness.

“We must be alert regarding rescue preparations based on the nature of past disasters. For incidents like drowning in rivers, we cannot rely on ambulances due to potential traffic jams; time is critical. We must now focus on aerial rescue operations. We will utilize geo-location for management and rescue, and we will mobilize the necessary teams from the central disaster management unit at Tribhuvan Airport as required,” he stated.

Minister Gurung issued these directives to both central and district-level security personnel. During the visit, he received briefings on the damaged highway from Division Road Office Bhaktapur Chief and Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh, Namobuddha Municipality Mayor Kunsang Lama, and Roshi Rural Municipality Chairman Dinesh Lama.

Yogesh informed the Minister that while permanent construction work has been accelerated, it has been occasionally hindered by ongoing rainfall. He noted that despite the washing away of temporary diversions, they have been reconstructed to maintain traffic flow. Efforts are being intensified with additional equipment to ensure temporary operations on the original road lanes before the next year.

The office stated that permanent reconstruction has begun at three locations on the highway, which serves as a vital short-distance link between Nepal's eastern and central hill regions and the federal capital, Kathmandu. Yogesh expressed confidence that infrastructure in high-risk areas would be completed before the next year, allowing traffic to resume on the main highway.

According to him, the reconstruction is expected to be completed within two years. Currently, 25 percent of the work has been finished across the three road sections contracted in Kavrepalanchok.

Permanent reconstruction began last Mangsir, following procedures after the floods and landslides of Ashoj 2081 and further damage caused by this year's rains. Of the four damaged sections, the 3.2-kilometer stretch from Barkhe Khola to Piple will be reconstructed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with a contract expected to be signed this month, Yogesh added.

Construction of RCC walls is underway in various damaged areas, while work has also commenced on plump walls at Chaukidanda and RCC walls at Charsayabesi and Bhakundebesi. Additionally, road widening is in progress along the Dalabesi-Mangaltar and Charsayabesi-Narke sections. Yogesh explained that the designs for areas completely washed out by floods in the past two years are intended to be disaster-resilient.

The goal is to complete the reconstruction of the damaged sections in Kavrepalanchok and Sindhuli within two years. This year, the focus is on building structures and widening the road, while next year will involve finishing remaining structures and blacktopping. The floods and landslides damaged approximately 30 kilometers of the highway across Kavrepalanchok and Sindhuli.

The reconstruction project includes upgrading the highway to two lanes. “The reconstructed sections will be two lanes wide, and existing bridges will be expanded or supplemented with new ones to ensure a two-lane capacity,” said Yogesh, noting that five bridges are planned for such upgrades.

The office reported that the 8.5 km section from Dalabesi to Charsayabesi was contracted to Khani-Avan-Kamaljit JV for Rs 1.42 billion (including VAT). The 11.08 km section from Charsayabesi to Bhakundebesi was awarded to Lama-Navakantipur JV for Rs 1.33 billion, and the 4.90 km section from Nepalthok to Barkhe Khola was contracted to Kharidhunga-Ghising-Kshitij JV for Rs 610 million.

For the 3.2 km section from Barkhe Khola to Piple, a memorandum of understanding has been signed for a grant of Rs 2.63 billion from JICA. The government had already contracted the other sections before last Ashoj.

The government has approved a total budget of Rs 8.50 billion for the reconstruction, with Rs 7.50 billion allocated for the Kavrepalanchok sections and Rs 1 billion for the Sindhuli section.

Construction of the BP Highway (160 km Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas road) began in the fiscal year 2053/54 with Japanese grant assistance. The highway was formally handed over by the Japanese government to the Government of Nepal on Ashad 18, 2072.

Earlier, Minister Gurung also inspected the bridge at Bhaisepati on the 18 km section of the Arniko Highway between Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur, and Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok, as well as the bridge under construction over the Punyamata River at Pulbazar, Banepa, urging for the acceleration of work.