After heavy rains on the Nagdhunga-Muglin road, the main route into the capital, which has become difficult to travel due to collapse and is prone to landslides in hundreds of places, the upgrading work has started.

In the 94.66 km stretch from Nagadhunga to Muglin, during the last year's monsoon, about 500 small and big landslides occurred and many people lost their lives. Some vehicles were buried in the landslide. But since the government pressured the contractors and did not complete the work on time, the risk of landslides remains the same even after the next rainy season. 

According to the data of the road department, 12 thousand vehicles pass through this section every day. This road is the 'lifeline' of the capital. Not only the movement of people, but also the daily consumables needed for the capital enter through this route. Milk, vegetables, food grains, clothes, medicine and medical supplies come through this road, so if it is blocked, the daily life of the residents of the capital will also be affected.

Two micros and a passenger bus were buried last October when a landslide fell from above in Jhaple river, 2.7 km from Nagadhunga check post. 35 people who were traveling in a micro and a bus were killed when the landslide fell from an unexpected place. Even now, when there is heavy rain, passengers and drivers are scared in this section. Not only this, the authorities of the road department say that there is still a risk of large landslides in more than a dozen places from Nagadhunga to Muglin. 

"When the rains start, if it rains like last October, there is a risk that the old landslides may go again," says Keshav Prasad Ojha, head of the eastern section of the Nagadhunga-Muglin road plan, "taking this into account, the section from Nagadhunga to Muglin is now being divided into three packages for upgrading."

Although the progress of work on Nagadhunga-Naubise section is good, the progress of Naubise-Malekhu and Malekhu-Muglin sections is low. The progress of the Malekhu-Muglin section, which is still the most prone to landslides, is very low.  The

is the first section to be upgraded, Nagadhunga-Naubise. The distance of this section is 12.26 km. So far, 12.1 km has been covered in the first level. A hundred meter section of the Jhaple river has not been paved. "There is work of special nature slab stabilization (landslide control), half of which has been completed," says Ojha. At present, the first level black sheet work has been completed on both sides of this section. He said that the overall physical progress of the section is 84 percent.

The upgrade contract was taken by Jangsu-Sagun JV for 1.3 billion rupees. According to the construction contract of this package dated 29 Chait 2078, after the work could not be completed by 27 June 2081, the deadline was extended until January 2081, but the work could not be completed as per the target. Again the extended deadline is till 10 July 2082. But the work will not be completed until July. 

Ojha says that they are going to build a disabled-friendly Akase bridge for pedestrians in the same mine river. "8 out of 9 houses in that place have been demolished," he says, "we are going to build a disabled-friendly bridge that can be rolled up and down by a wheelchair." "Since the house could not be demolished on time, the time for that period is being given to the construction workers," he says.

belongs to the second package, Naubise-Malekhu section. Its distance is 43.54 km. 5 billion 33 million 19 million JICG-Sharma-Lama JV has taken its contract. The contract was signed on 14 Baisakh 2079 and the work of this section was supposed to be completed by June 2082, but it was not completed. So far its physical progress is only 42 percent. In this section, the 13 km road in both directions has a first level black sheet. The work of the second level has not started as black paper has to be laid up to the third level.

"We are in discussions in the road department about how much to extend the period of this section," says Ojha, "but now the work can be completed within the extended time." 4.7 km from Nagadhunga to Naubise and 17.5 km from Naubise to Malekhu will be made a separate 'climbing' lane. He said that where there are three lanes, one lane will be 'climbing' and a separate 'climbing' lane will be made for cargo vehicles in the uphill area when coming from Muglin towards Kathmandu. According to Ojha, the road will be closed on Sunday and Monday from 10:30 PM to 3:00 AM as a bridge has to be built on Galundi River in this section. 

"The climbing lane has been built, it is separated by marking after the third layer of black paper is finished," he says. There is still risk of landslides in Jhyaple river, Nagadhunga tunnel mouth, Furke river, 13 km Kamere Bhir, Chirauni river, Pareva Bhir in the said section.

"We are preparing to place equipment for immediate rescue at the place where the risk area has been identified, there will be a mechanism to move it aside when a landslide occurs," he said, "work is still being done in the area where there is a risk of landslides." The road will be expanded from 4 to 6 lanes in the market area of ​​this segment. In most places, two-lane roads will be built. 

belongs to the third package, the Malekhu–Muglin segment. The progress of this section of 38.86 km is 31 percent. Sharma-JICG has taken the contract for upgrading this section for 4 billion 80 crore 59 lakh rupees. According to the agreement signed on 15 December 2079, the work should be completed within December 2082. Kedar Prasad Nepal, head of the west section of the Nagadhunga-Muglin road scheme, which has been black-paved on a four-lane road in the market area, says. 8 km has been paved in that section. 

'After the onset of rain, we have reduced the black sheet work,' says Nepal, 'but there is no problem to work when the weather is favorable.' The pace of work in this section is slow. The road has been demolished, but construction work has not been done accordingly. The dust is not seen here and there. Traffic has become uncomfortable due to the construction of tarred roads in places.

 The construction of bridges in four places of this section, Barbang and Mauwa river in Chitwan, Gaumati and Khatiodi river in Dhading, has been completed on Saturday after closing the road since 30th of June. "We had to bring a crane from India to work, but there was a problem when we didn't get the crane on time, so the work that has been stopped for four/five months is barely finished," says Nepal. Trishuli river is cutting from below. At present, 'micro piling' work has been done in that section. Since the work of 'micro piling' has been completed, we will start the horizontal anchor work within a few days," says Nepal. "After hearing from the experts that there is a problem with water seepage, the slope work has also been done to prevent the problem from occurring.