A few days ago, the locals of Khurkot, Mulkot, Chiabari, Phedi and other areas demanded that the construction of the tunnel should proceed quickly before Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who came to 'break through' the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion tunnel. They took the stand that there is no more work to be done, but there is talk of constructing the Teabari-Khurkot (Bara) tunnel and that it should be progressed as much as possible.

The Chiabari-Khurkot tunnel will start from the foothills above the tea fields of Kamalamai municipality-2 and will exit at the lower bara of Golanjore rural municipality-7.

Both these municipalities have been demanding the construction of the tunnel for a long time. If the Chiabari-Khurkot tunnel can be constructed, the road distance will not only decrease, but the development of this area will also take a leap, claims Shankarraj Baral, Chairman of Golanjor Rural Municipality. There are many tourists on this stretch of road. Passengers feel uncomfortable to travel. Chairman Baral says that there are many vagrants in this section, so the passengers have to face problems like nausea and vomiting during the journey. According to the police, there is a risk of accidents in this section due to traffic. 

'The tunnel will not only reduce the distance of the road, it will also reduce the risk of accidents,' President Baral said He said. In view of the risk of accidents, it is prohibited to drive vehicles with higher load capacity on the 39 km road of Sindhulimadi-Khurkot section under BP highway.

If the Chiabari-Khurkot tunnel is constructed, the distance between Ramechhap, Dolakha, Okhaldhunga and Solukhumbu will be shortened. The Quality Research and Development Center of the Road Department has already studied the feasibility of this tunnel in the financial year 076/77. According to the feasibility study, its distance will be 4.90 km. But the distance, cost will be determined during the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR). According to the feasibility study, it is mentioned that the construction cost will be 16 billion 81 million 87 million. The Quality Research and Development Center has studied the feasibility of 7 tunnels including Chiabari-Khurkot. But none have gone into construction. Nareshman Shakya, head of the Quality Research and Development Center, said that although the tunnels were studied because of the demand, the most important is the Teabari-Khurkot tunnel due to the condition of the road. 

'It is difficult to build this tunnel with the resources of the Nepal government,' he said, 'the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is discussing about doing the construction work from a donor agency.' According to the Ministry, there is a plan to build it on concessional loans from Japan. The government is preparing to finalize its construction in the next financial year. If the Chiabari-Khurkot road tunnel is constructed, the distance of Nagbeli road of BP highway will be reduced to less than one third.

It is claimed that the distance between Chiabari-Khurkot road is currently 29.8 km and will be reduced to 8.5 km if the tunnel is constructed. Now it takes one to one and a half hours to cover that distance. If the tunnel can be constructed, the distance will be covered in 6 minutes. Technicians have resolved that the Chiabari-Khurkot tunnel can be dug using the tunnel boring machine (TBM) used to dig the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion tunnel. According to Mitra Baral, the director of the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion project, which broke through only a few days ago, the tunnel route can be constructed on the Chiabari-Khurkot road using this TBM machine. 

Director Baral says that the TBM machine used in the Bheri-Babai diversion multi-purpose irrigation project and the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion can be used in the current condition and the diameter can be changed by re-engineering and the tunnel route can be constructed. "After Bhari-Babai, the TBM machine was used for the construction of the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion tunnel," he said. Baral claims that since Khurkot (Bara section) is on the road, there will be no difficulty in constructing the tunnel with the TBM machine. "If the tunnel can be built, fuel worth 450 million will be saved," he said He claims that the number of tourists coming from India and other countries to enjoy and visit the destination will increase. It is a quick and short route to Terai District. 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles pass through this section daily. During the festival, 7 to 10 thousand vehicles travel every day.