Passengers face hardship as BP Highway remains closed

KAVREPALANCHOWK: The BP Highway, which was blocked by continuous rain on Saturday and Sunday, remains closed, causing severe inconvenience to passengers.

Although efforts were made to reopen the road on Sunday, fresh rainfall further hampered restoration work.

According to Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh of the Division Road Office, Bhaktapur, diversion work continued until Sunday evening but had to be halted due to renewed rain and safety concerns.

“If the weather improves, we will resume diversion work from today to reopen the highway,” he said. Efforts had been made to open the road at around eight locations, but work at Charsabesi was suspended midway due to rainfall.

The highway was closed from 3:30 pm on Saturday after continuous rain raised the risk of flooding. The District Police Office, Dhulikhel, said the road section between Katunje in Namobuddha Municipality of Kavrepalanchowk and Mangaltar in Roshi Rural Municipality was shut after the Roshi River swelled dangerously due to heavy rainfall.

Flooding in the Roshi River has damaged around four kilometres of temporary diversions along the Katunje–Mangaltar section. Key areas affected include Chowkidanda, Ghumune, Narke, Chiuribas, Kaldhunga, Dalabensi, Buldhunga, and Mamti.

Earlier in the third week of January, temporary diversions had been built after about four kilometres of road were washed away in the same area. Last year’s floods and landslides had already destroyed around 18 kilometres of road along the Roshi section of the BP Highway, after which traffic was restored through temporary diversions.

Following the latest closure, vehicles have been halted at entry points in Dhulikhel, Kavrebhanjyang, Mangaltar, and Nepalthok in Sindhuli. More than 600 stranded passengers were rescued on Sunday via a suspension bridge route through Temal Rural Municipality to Bhakunde in Namobuddha Municipality, according to police.

Locals and security personnel also distributed food, water, and refreshments to affected passengers in Bhakunde.

Meanwhile, work is underway to construct a permanent road in the area after repeated damage to the Chowkidanda–Nepalthok section due to floods and landslides in recent months.