BANKE: The Postal Highway — one of Nepal’s national pride projects–remains incomplete as the construction of the crucial Narayanpur–Rajpur road section, linking Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality-3 in Banke to Rajpur Rural Municipality in Dang, has yet to begin.
Although a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 35-kilometer section was prepared several years ago, the project has not moved forward. According to the DPR, the construction will require an estimated Rs 6 billion.
Lila Bahadur Bhandari, Chief of the Postal Road Directorate, Project Office Nepalgunj, said that the highway cannot be considered complete without this section.
“We have submitted the proposal to the concerned authorities to secure the necessary budget. Once resources are ensured, contract management will begin,” he said.
The proposed stretch will include 15 bridges and is expected to take around four years to complete. More than 18 kilometers of the section passes through forest areas, posing additional challenges for clearance and construction.
Chief Bhandari added that public vehicles currently use the completed portion of the highway from Nepalgunj to Agaiya, but the unconstructed Narayanpur–Rajpur link remains a major bottleneck. “Without this segment, the postal road cannot serve as a fully functional east–west corridor,” he emphasized.
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