The foundation stone of the 3.2 km section of the Piple-Barkhekhola section of the BP Highway has been laid to make it two-lane. The flood of Asoj 2081 damaged a 30.5 km area along the highway from Bhakundebensi to Nepalthok. 

The contract was awarded for only 27.3 km of the damaged highway, except for the 3.2 km section to be built by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). About a year after the contract was awarded for the 27.3 section to proceed with the construction of the same section, Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Gopal Sigdel and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Maeda Toru jointly laid the foundation stone of the 3.2 km section on Monday. JICA Nepal Chief Representative Matsuzaki Mizuki also participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony. Secretary Sigdel said that the foundation stone of the road was laid to ensure that it would be built with a grant from the Japanese government in case of flood damage. 

The road is being constructed with a grant of Rs 2.6 billion. Its construction should be completed by December 2027. Suman Yogesh, head of the Road Division Office in Bhaktapur, which has been awarded the construction contract by the Japanese company Shimizu Corporation, said. “The construction company is digging the road construction site with a 7-meter-deep machine and testing the soil,” he said. “If there are any problems, there is a provision to submit additional details in the design. This work will be completed before the monsoon season, and construction will begin only after the monsoon season.” Currently, the contract has been signed to operate the 27.3-km section only during the monsoon season. 

If JICA takes over the construction, there is no preparation for the upcoming monsoon season. “Permanent construction work has not started at this location. We will temporarily build a 5-meter-high embankment on the river bank for the monsoon season and arrange for vehicles to drive on it,” Yogesh said. “There is a high risk of flooding in four places. If there are any problems, we will arrange for technicians and machines to solve them immediately.” 

The flood of Asoj 2081 caused the most damage to the 30.5 km stretch from Bhakundebensi to Nepalthok along the highway. The work has been progressed by making three packages, three towards Kavre and one towards Sindhuli. The contract for the 11 km stretch from Bhakundebensi to Charsaybensi of the two-lane highway being constructed has been awarded to Lama-Nawakantipur JV for Rs 1.14 billion. The contract for the 9 km stretch from Charsaybensi to Dalabesi has been awarded to Khani-Kamaljit-Awan JV for Rs 1.22 billion excluding VAT. Both contracts were awarded in Asar 2082. 

The contract for the 2.3 km stretch from Piple to Dalabesi has been awarded to Uma & Company-Bhandari-Amarjyoti JV in Kartik 2082. The contract amount for this stretch is Rs 688 million. "Currently, we are constructing a diversion in the river and driving vehicles. Occasionally, the flood that comes with rain washes away the diversion," Yogesh said. "In such situations, we have stopped the operation of vehicles. After the flood subsides, we have created a diversion again and drive." He said that arrangements will be made for driving vehicles from the track currently being built from Ashad 15, keeping in mind the monsoon season. 

"There is no blacktop at present, we will make arrangements for driving vehicles by making a gravel-level road, and we will blacktop it in the next fiscal year," Yogesh said. "This road will be built up to a height of 10 meters. Before the monsoon season, we will drive vehicles by placing gravel only up to 7 meters."  He claims that there is no need to drive vehicles through the river during the monsoon season. "There is no problem during the monsoon season. When the diversion river washes away the diversion, the construction contractor who takes the contract for that section should work on the section that is being worked on under contract, and there will be no additional cost," he said. 

The 5-km section from Barkhe Khola to Nepalthok falls in Sindhuli. The contract for the section has been awarded to Kharidhunga-Ghising-Kshitij JV. Its contract amount is Rs 550 million excluding VAT. The Road Department has stated that the work on all sections should be completed within two years from the date of the agreement. Arrangements will be made to ply the Sindhuli section before the monsoon, said Parashmani Hamal, Chief of Road Division, Khalte, Sindhuli. 

‘The road is ready to be plyed in the Kaldhunga and Nepalthok sections during the monsoon, but the problem arose because there is a school on the section near Kaldhunga and the road below it was washed away by the flood,’ Hamal said, ‘We can work there within a month. In the meantime, if there is a problem due to rain, we will make arrangements to ply the road at that place by building a dam.’ Hamal said that once the monsoon starts, vehicles will be allowed on the newly built road track and machines will be placed at various places.