Even though the construction of the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola tunnel has reached the completion stage, confusion has increased due to the failure to select a service provider. Everyone is interested in when the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola tunnel will be operational. The attention of passengers and drivers traveling through Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola is always drawn to the tunnel. However, although it was previously said that it would be operational from the English New Year, stakeholders say that since the service provider has not been selected, there is no possibility of it becoming operational by that time.

The Road Department officials are not clear on when the tunnel, which is 97 percent complete, will be operational. The project had invited bids on October 16 to select a service provider through an international bid for the operation of the tunnel. The deadline for which was until December 2. The deadline has now been extended to December 16 as per the demands of international construction companies and Nepali construction entrepreneurs. Even after the bids are open, it will take two months to select a construction company and enter into an agreement, said Soujanya Nepal, Project Director of the Nagdhunga Tunnel Construction Project.

‘This is an international bid, and it has a mandatory provision that a foreign company must enter into a joint venture with a Nepali company,’ Nepal said. ‘We have extended the time to participate in the procurement process after receiving an official request from the foreign bidders and the Federation of Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs.’ He said that the time was extended to be acceptable to everyone. He said that it took one and a half years to prepare the tunnel operation guidelines and that since there was no clear provision for procurement, a separate procurement guideline was prepared and approved by the Council of Ministers.

‘Based on this, we prepared a standard bid document, then the procurement was called for after obtaining consent from the Public Procurement Monitoring Office,’ Nepal said, ‘It took one and a half years to complete all the processes except internal preparations. By preparing so many documents for the Nagdhunga Tunnel, it will not take as much time as it does now to operate similar infrastructure in the future, it will be easier.’ He claims that it took time because all the documents had to be prepared from scratch when there was no concept of operating such a large infrastructure in Nepal.

Currently, the construction of the toll plaza and landslide management work are underway on the Dhading side. ‘The selection of the service provider and the remaining construction work will be completed simultaneously,’ Nepal said, ‘The deadline of the construction company has been extended by six months to prevent landslides.’ Accordingly, the work should be completed by 12 Baisakh 2083. ‘This is a procurement call as per the Public Procurement Act, there has been no amendment to it,’ said Nepal, the project director. ‘The preparations so far will see the tunnel operational from Chaitra.’

The Department of Roads Director General Vijay Jaisi said that the department had initially contracted it to operate it. ‘We had no experience in tunnel operation, and when we understood how the Department of Roads could operate it, we saw that more than 100 permanent employees were required,’ he said. ‘It was not possible to employ so many employees to operate a tunnel. That is why it took a year and a half to prepare a tunnel operation guideline.’ Not all the work on the tunnel has been completed. The radio frequency identification (RFID) gate is yet to be installed. Currently, testing of the equipment installed inside the tunnel, including the CCTV cameras, lights, etc., is underway.

The project had stated that the tunnel would be operational from the beginning of the English New Year 2026. However, the operation date has been pushed back due to the failure to select a service provider. The Japanese government has a different stance on the selection of service providers. It is saying that blacklisted and government-owned construction companies should not be selected. The project director Nepal said that after the tunnel is operational, freight vehicles will save 30 to 35 minutes. The government has also set a fee for vehicles using the tunnel. The Council of Ministers meeting held on 26th Shrawan has approved the implementation of the fee on the proposal of Road Board Nepal. It is estimated that the tunnel will cost 250 million to 300 million rupees annually.

Vehicles will be charged a fee for using the tunnel. According to the fee set by the government, cars and vans will be charged 65 rupees when entering Kathmandu and 60 rupees when leaving. The project estimates that about 859 such vehicles will enter and 646 will exit daily. Similarly, a fee of 115 rupees has been set for minibuses, trucks and tippers entering Kathmandu and 80 rupees when leaving. The project says that 540 of these vehicles will enter the valley daily and 406 will exit.