KAVRE: The Kavrepalanchok section of the BP Highway will be closed to vehicular traffic for 12 hours each night beginning July 17, as a precautionary measure during the monsoon season.
A safety committee meeting held at the District Administration Office in Dhulikhel decided to restrict nighttime travel along the stretch from Kavrebhanjyang to Nepalthok on the Sindhuli border. The ban will be in effect daily from 5:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. for one month.
The restriction aims to minimize the risk of accidents and disasters caused by monsoon-induced floods and landslides.
Chief District Officer of Kavrepalanchok, Umesh Dhakal, stated that vehicles heading from Kathmandu will be stopped at Kavrebhanjyang, while those traveling toward the capital will be halted at Nepalthok in Sindhuli due to the heightened landslide risk.
Last year, monsoon floods and landslides in September severely damaged an eight-kilometer stretch of the BP Highway between Chowkidanda in Kavrepalanchok and Barkhekhola in Sindhuli.
In response, a temporary road was constructed along the river to enable limited one-way and two-way traffic.
The BP Highway serves as a vital route connecting eastern Nepal to the capital, with hundreds of vehicles using it daily. Out of the highway’s total length of 160 kilometers, 84 kilometers were damaged by last year’s monsoon.
According to the Division Road Office in Bhaktapur, this includes 34 kilometers from Khurkot to Nepalthok in Sindhuli (Section 3) and 50 kilometers from Nepalthok to Dhulikhel in Kavrepalanchok (Section 4).
The road office has initiated the process of awarding contracts for the permanent reconstruction of the affected sections in four phases.
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