MUSTANG: The Beni–Jomsom–Korala Road Project under the Kali Gandaki Corridor has accelerated blacktopping and upgrading work on the Kagbeni–Chhusang section in Mustang, which connects to the Nepal–China border point at Korala Pass.
Construction work on the section had been halted due to severe winter conditions, snowfall, and the Nepal House of Representatives by-election 2026 held on March 5. With the end of winter, work on upgrading the road has resumed.
According to the project office, the 9.8-kilometre Kagbeni–Chhusang section is currently undergoing rapid upgrading. The office has already completed around 98 percent of blacktopping on the road up to Kagbeni from Ghasa in Mustang’s Thasang–4 area, connecting routes toward Korala and Muktinath Temple.
The project aims to blacktop and upgrade the road up to the Nepal–China border at Korala Pass. The federal government allocated budget last year to support the project.
The project office said a contract worth Rs 288.796 million was signed on July 10 last year with Taksar Iffata and Buddha JV Construction to upgrade and blacktop the Kagbeni–Chhusang road section. The project has been given a two-year completion deadline.
Project chief Tejaswi Sharma said the work must be completed by July 8, 2027, as per the contract agreement. Although the upgrading work began in the Nepali month of Shrawan in the current fiscal year, it remained halted for about five months due to adverse weather and the election.
With winter now over and summer beginning, construction companies have returned to the site, Sharma said. So far, about 20 percent physical progress has been achieved on the road. The road will have an overall width of around 11 metres, including an eight-metre-wide blacktopped surface.
According to construction company representative Sagar Shrestha, work on the road structure is currently underway in the Tangbe area of Baragung Muktichhetra–3. Around 5,000 cubic metres of gabion walls and 2,000 cubic metres of retaining walls have already been installed.
Additional works such as road grading, drainage construction and other structural improvements are also ongoing.
Shrestha said that if fuel prices remain stable and supply continues smoothly, blacktopping up to Tongwe from Kagbeni could be completed within five months. More than 80 workers are currently deployed daily at the construction site.
Floods and landslides during the months of Asar and Shrawan last year had caused partial damage to parts of the road in the Kagbeni–Chhusang section in Baragung Muktichhetra–3, damaging road bases in several locations.
Preliminary environmental impact assessments have also been completed in two phases for the Chhusang–Ghami and Ghami–Korala sections as part of the plan to upgrade and blacktop the road up to Korala Pass.
Lopsang Chomphel Bista, chairperson of Loghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality, said the road network in Upper Mustang will become significantly easier if sufficient budget is allocated for blacktopping the road up to the Korala border.
The project estimates that more than Rs 5 billion will be required to upgrade and blacktop the Chhusang–Korala section.
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