BP Highway Partially Reopens After Rain-Induced Closures

Kavrepalanchok. The BP Highway, which was obstructed since Wednesday evening, came into operation at 8:30 AM on Thursday. Within five hours of its reopening, the highway was closed again and reopened after three more hours. The highway was closed due to the potential risk of flooding in the Roshi River as rain began in the afternoon.

In recent days, due to daily rainfall, as soon as floods occur in the Roshi River, the district security bodies immediately issue a notice of closure. After the rain, if floods occur in the Roshi River, the temporary diversion built in the Roshi area of Kavrepalanchok along the BP Highway is washed away. For this reason, as the highway gets obstructed, security bodies have been urging travelers to check the situation before traveling for the past few weeks.

For the past year and a half, passengers have been facing hardships due to the temporary diversion on the BP Highway, which serves as a short route connecting the federal capital Kathmandu with the eastern Terai and hilly districts, being washed away by rain. Some passengers travel on the diversion at risk, and sometimes when passengers get stuck in floods, it poses a significant security challenge for passengers and security personnel.

Due to the rain last Monday, 89 passengers stranded between Laskot and Ghumaine along the BP Highway in Roshi Rural Municipality-7 were rescued at night. A team of the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force rescued those passengers from five microbuses safely at 1:00 PM on Tuesday and sent them on their way.

As the temporary diversion built in the Roshi area along the BP Highway began to be washed away by floods after the rain, the security bodies had closed traffic in that area from 5:00 PM on Monday through a meeting of the District Security Committee. The drivers of those five microbuses were immediately taken into custody and action was initiated by the police, citing that the passengers were making risky journeys despite the highway being closed. After the highway was obstructed by floods on Monday, vehicles were held at the highway entry points of Dhulikhel and Kavrebhanjyang and Mangaltar and Nepalthok in Sindhuli.

Due to the damage to approximately 18 kilometers of the road from Bhakunde (Bridge No. 1) to Nepalthok on the BP Highway by the floodwaters from October 10 to 12, 2081 BS, citizens have been facing hardships even during light rainfall.

Despite the ongoing reconstruction of the highway damaged by floods, the highway has been repeatedly obstructed due to rain over the past year, from April last year to the present. The temporary diversion built on the highway is washed away due to rain in areas like Banepa, Panauti, Dhulikhel, and Bethanchok in the upper region of the Roshi River, causing the highway to be obstructed.

For this reason, the local administration also closes the local highway to minimize the risk to vehicles and passengers traveling on the highway, said Chief District Officer Gopal Kumar Adhikari. According to him, there is a compulsion to stop traffic in the Roshi area of the highway as soon as rain is predicted or begins.

According to the data from the district security bodies, the road in that area was completely closed for one day from May 5 to 6, 2082, for one and a half days from May 12 to 14, for about one and a half hours on July 4, and for about 12 hours on September 12. Similarly, the District Security Committee meeting closed traffic at night from June 6 to August 31 last year, and from October 16 to 18. During the same period, it was repeatedly obstructed due to rain during the day.

Similarly, the highway was completely closed for four hours on March 7, for one day from March 13 to 14, and for four hours on March 15. The highway was completely closed for one day from May 12 to 13, and at night on May 14 and 15, according to the District Police Office, Kavrepalanchok. Similarly, on May 21, it was opened for a short while in the afternoon, but it was closed again in the afternoon due to heavy rain in areas like Banepa and Panauti.

Traffic is being operated by constructing a diversion in the river along about four kilometers of the road in the Roshi area under the said highway. Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh, Chief of the Division Road Office, Bhaktapur, informed that the Roshi flood specifically damages the road at eight locations in the Roshi area, including Chaukidanda, Ghumaine, Narke, Chiuribas, Kaladhunga, Dalabeshi, Buldhunga, and Mamti.

"The rain washes away the diversion in these areas, and traffic is resumed after rebuilding it once the water flow decreases," he said. According to him, equipment for building diversions has been kept on standby in a safe place for the past year and a half.

Due to the lack of a reliable alternative road to the BP Highway, security agencies are compelled to hold vehicles whenever the highway is obstructed. Reconstruction work is underway on four sections of the BP Highway damaged by floods on the Kavrepalanchok side and one section on the Sindhuli side.

Last year's floods and landslides washed away 18 km of the road in the Chaukidanda, Roshi, and Nepalthok areas of Sindhuli, and traffic was being managed by constructing diversions in the river. The office stated that permanent road construction is currently underway in that area.