सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kavrepalanchok. The government is trying to raise resources for the reconstruction of the damaged BP Highway. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has stated that the government is trying to raise resources for the reconstruction of the highway damaged by the floods and landslides of the second week of Asoj.
The ministry has inspected the road to determine the modality in which it will be reconstructed. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal, Secretary to the Ministry Keshav Kumar Sharma and a team from the Division Road Office, Bhaktapur also monitored the damaged road on Saturday. During the road monitoring, Minister Dahal said that resources will be ensured for the reconstruction of the road in about a week. “The government will ensure the resources for the reconstruction of the damaged road in about a week, after which we will start the process,” said Office Chief Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh, quoting Dahal.
According to Yogesh, if the resources for the reconstruction of the damaged road are ensured in a week, the process will be progressed and the permanent reconstruction will be started by April. Yogesh said that before that, there was a discussion about the diversion currently being carried out in Bagar and the elevation of the old location of the road to two to three meters, and the elevation can be increased by filling the difficult places with mesh. He said, “If there are no obstacles, the reconstruction will start from April, otherwise it has been seen that the road will have to be raised temporarily to operate vehicles during the rainy season.”
A study conducted by the office last month had shown that it would cost about nine and a half billion to reconstruct the damaged road. According to the initial study, it is estimated that it will cost nine billion 660 million to reconstruct various places along the BP Highway from Bhakunde to Nepal Thok. Out of the 12-kilometer road section along the highway from Chowkidanda in Namobuddha of Kavrepalanchok to Kaldhunga in Roshi Rural Municipality, eight kilometers of the road section were completely damaged.
According to Yogesh, the study has shown that three types of walls (RCC retaining, plum and GAVIN) should be installed on the road. “Although the study shows that a bridge should be built first in some places, a conclusion will be reached after further discussions on whether to build a bridge or a wall,” said Yogesh. According to him, RCC walls should be installed in places where the Wal River can flow, while the study has shown that plum walls and Gavine walls should be installed in some places. Yogesh said that the reconstructed road will have a two-lane road with asphalt concrete. Earlier, there was an ‘intermediate lane’ road.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had discussed cooperation with Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Kikuta Yutaka on October 30 for the reconstruction of the said highway. The ministry has already proposed cooperation to JICA for the reconstruction of the road section. The ministry is said to be awaiting JICA’s report and response. According to Sharma, preparations are also underway to demand the budget in the Disaster Management Fund of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
It was reported that the ministry is preparing to reconstruct the highway even though it has taken concessional loans from donor agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank. Yogesh said that if the resources for reconstruction are delayed, there will be great difficulties in operating transport during the coming monsoon season. He said, “If the resources were assured now, we would have started the work, but if it is delayed now, transport may not operate throughout the monsoon season.” According to him, studies have shown that it will take at least two years to completely reconstruct the road.
There are indications that the Japanese government will provide assistance in the reconstruction of the collapsed section of the highway. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also conducted a study of the damaged roads in the second week of November. However, JICA has not yet submitted a report on the matter. However, Yogesh informed that in discussions with JICA representatives and officials of the Ministry and Division Roads, JICA has indicated that it will reconstruct the damaged roads in one or two places.
He said, “Although all the damaged roads have not been reconstructed in formal discussions with JICA officials in Nepal, they have indicated that they will be reconstructed in one or two places.” On the occasion of the 65th birthday of the Emperor of Japan and Japan’s National Day, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Maeda Toru, discussed various aspects of Nepal-Japan relations at a ceremony organized at his official residence in Tahachal and said that Japan would take the initiative to repair the BP Highway damaged by the floods and landslides during the previous rainy season.
BP Ranmarg Most of the road section from Chowkidanda in Kavrepalanchok to Barkhekhola in Sindhuli under (Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas) is in a damaged condition. The highway, which was brought into operation two weeks after it was blocked by floods and landslides, is a short route connecting the central capital Kathmandu with the mid-hills and eastern Nepal. The highway is sometimes one-way and sometimes two-way.
The construction of the BP Highway (160 km road of Dhulikhel-Sindhuli-Bardibas) was started in the fiscal year 2053/54 with the grant assistance of the Japanese government. The construction was completed in sections on 18 Ashar 2072 BS and was formally handed over to the Government of Nepal by the Japanese Government.
At that time, the highway was built at a cost of 26 billion Japanese yen and 1.1 billion (Japanese yen) from the Government of Nepal. The cost of constructing the highway built by JICA was 350 million per km. The amount would be more than 500 million per km in current calculations.
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