HEMJA: The government is planning to construct a tunnel in the Nayapul-Hemja section of the Mid-Hill Highway.
Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel mentioned that work on the Nayapul-Hemja tunnel will be taken forward in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26, which was made public on Thursday.
Nayapul-Hemja has also been given priority under the plan to ensure resources for the construction of tunnels for which feasibility studies have been completed, and to proceed with the construction work.
Along with this, it has been mentioned in the budget that resource management and other preparations will be taken forward for the construction of tunnels for which studies have been completed: Dumkibas-Bardaghat, Khurkot-Chiyabari, Babai-Chinchu, Majhimtar-Shaktikhor, Kulekhani-Bhimphedi, and Dharan-Leuti.
Similarly, the budget also mentions that feasibility studies will be completed for the Tokha-Chhahare, Shivapur-Bhaluwang, Ranighat-Bhurigaun, Dolalghat-Charnawati, and Hattisar-Babai tunnels.
The feasibility study for the tunnel was completed by granting approval in the budget for the fiscal year 2079/80.
The Parbat Chamber of Commerce and Industry had been taking the initiative for the past decade to build a tunnel on the Pokhara-Baglung road, which is the only road directly connecting the four districts of the former Dhaulagiri zone to the national highway and the provincial capital.
The Parbat Chamber of Commerce and Industry had been taking the initiative to directly connect the Dhaulagiri region—which is very important in terms of tourism and is also connected to the Koralla border of neighboring China, and has great potential in terms of tourism promotion—to Pokhara. A letter of attention was also submitted to the ministry.
If Parbat, Baglung, Myagdi, and Mustang can be directly connected to the provincial and tourism capital, Pokhara, it will not only promote national and international trade, but also save transportation time and open the door to an economic revolution in the neglected Dhaulagiri region, said Thakur B. Poudel, president of the Parbat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It is 58 kilometers from Kushma in Parbat to Pokhara. The distance between Nayapul and Hemja to be built now is about 40 kilometers.
However, after the construction of the tunnel, it will be connected by a distance of seven kilometers.
After the construction of the tunnel, it will be possible to attract thousands of tourists who enter Pokhara every day. It will also be possible to have direct contact with the Kaligandaki Corridor—which is a trade route between India and China—and it will be easy to connect Pokhara with Muktinath, which holds religious significance, and to bring tourists for Kaligandaki rafting, said Padam Giri, member of the House of Representatives.
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