KATHMANDU: The Dhulikhel-Bardibas road section of the BP Highway is expected to take three months to become fully operational due to extensive damage caused by continuous rainfall.
Ongoing erosion of the seasonal river has led to continuous blockages on the road, particularly in the Nepalthok-Bhakunde area and Roshi Rural Municipality.
According to the Department Of Roads, initiatives are being taken to remove landslides from various locations along the highway and is exploring alternative traffic routes on the affected sections.
However, rebuilding the washed away and damaged areas will require significant time and resources.
Before Dashain, the department plans to open one-way traffic by diverting routes on the BP Highway.
Engineer Pradeep Tamang, information officer of the road division, Khalte, stated that over 50 meters of the highway has collapsed in the Nepalthok-Bhakunde section, making immediate reopening impossible.
He estimated that it will take several days to resume two-way traffic on the BP Highway.
“We are trying to clear about 50 meters of the washed-away road in the Nepalthok area and plan to resume one-way traffic,” Tamang explained. However, he acknowledged that restoring two-way traffic on the BP Highway before Dashain poses a challenge, as further erosion has also affected the Roshi Rural Municipality.
In Roshi, approximately one kilometer of the highway was washed away due to the seasonal river’s erosion. Various machines and equipment are currently being deployed to clear the blocked road.
In addition to the damage in Nepalthok and Roshi, landslides have occurred in other areas along the road. Landslide removal and road resurfacing efforts are underway, with Suman Raj Basnet, Information Officer of the Road Division in Bhaktapur, confirming that work is ongoing to restore traffic on the damaged sections.
Basnet indicated that it will take an additional three months to completely restore the BP Highway. “It appears that another three months will be needed to bring the highway back to full operation,” he stated.
Due to the landslides and flooding affecting the BP Highway, a substantial budget will be required to restore the road to its former condition. According to Tamang, over NPR 1.5 billion is needed to rebuild the sections destroyed by the seasonal river erosion and to clear obstacles in other affected areas.
“It may take three to four months to rebuild the destroyed road,” he said, “The estimated budget for restoring the road to its original condition is around NPR 1.5 billion due to the extensive damage.”
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