Underpass construction is to begin in the upcoming fiscal year in Satdobato and Ekantakuna, which are prone to traffic jams. A budget of Rs 124.6 million has been allocated for this. The study work has also been completed to construct underpasses in both these places. 

The government had been saying since the budget statement of the fiscal year 2079/80 that it would construct overpasses/flyovers in Gwarko, Satdobato and Ekantakuna in the valley. So far, no overpass has been built anywhere except Gwarko. The study has been completed saying that an underpass like the one in Kalanki will be built in Satdobato and Ekantakuna. 

Further studies will be conducted on two dozen tunnels and only after prioritization will they be constructed. The study states that the cost of constructing the underpass will be Rs 500 million. The Quality, Research and Development Center has stated that the contract for both these underpasses will be done under the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. The Road Department had planned to build the underpass in the current fiscal year. But due to lack of budget, the work could not proceed. According to the study, the distance of the underpass to be built in Satdobato will be 540.78 meters. Currently, the study mentions that an underpass like the one in Kalanki will be built and the cost will be Rs 720 million. The Road Department has stated that the underpass will be four-lane. A study has been made to construct an underpass in Ekantakuna as well. Its distance will be 300 meters. Rajesh Prasad Poudel, Director of the Quality, Research and Development Center, said that the construction work will be carried out in both sections from the next fiscal year. ‘The budget has been allocated for minor maintenance of the Gwarko overpass. There is Rs 2 million for this,’ he said. ‘We will proceed with the contract for Ekantakuna and Satdobato, it is estimated to cost Rs 1.5 billion.’ The construction period will be four years. Therefore, since the work cannot be completed in a year, Poudel says that the work will be taken forward after obtaining a multi-year resource agreement from the Ministry of Finance.

Poudel said that the work will be started in a way that will cause less disruption to the road. ‘We have learned a lot from the construction of the Gwarko overpass, what preparations should be made to complete the work on time, we will go for the contract only after completing everything,’ he said, ‘We will work in a way that does not disrupt traffic by adopting appropriate measures after discussing with all the stakeholders.’

Study of two dozen tunnels, work on only two

Although pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of two dozen tunnels have been conducted, effective work has been done on only two. Currently, only the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola and Siddhababa tunnels are under construction.

The Nagdhunga tunnel is in the final stage of operation. The Siddhababa tunnel is also in the construction phase. In the coming fiscal year, it has been included in the budget for the coming fiscal year to conduct a tunnel study from Tokha-Chhahare Gurjebhanjyang, Bheri River in Surkhet to Danuwa Lake in Bardiya, and a study of the Dolalghat-Charnawati, Hattisar-Babai, Khurkot-Chiabari, Shivpur-Bhalubang and Ranighat-Bhurigaun tunnel routes.

A detailed feasibility study of the Khurkot-Chiabari tunnel route will be conducted, said Rajesh Prasad Poudel, Director of the Quality, Research and Development Center under the Road Department. 'We will proceed with the work only if it is found possible during the feasibility study. We will conduct a detailed study accordingly,' he said. 'Although the budget says that some of the tunnel development programs will be studied for feasibility, it has not been specified which ones will go into the detailed study.'

Poudel said that a detailed study will be conducted only for the tunnels that are found to be possible to go into construction through the feasibility study. "We will prioritize which projects with feasibility studies will be taken forward and which are feasible from Shrawan," he said.

In the budget for the fiscal year 2080/81, a budget of Rs 1 billion was allocated for the construction of a tunnel connecting Tokha in Kathmandu to Chhahare in Nuwakot. The budget stated that the construction would be carried out after completing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and Environmental Impact Study. No work was done that year. No budget was allocated in 2081/82. Although Rs 2.7 million was allocated in 2082/83, no work was done. It is mentioned that a study will be conducted in the budget for the next fiscal year.

A Chinese technical team that arrived in Magh 2076 conducted an initial study of it. A 20-member Chinese team spent a month studying the area where the tunnel will be constructed. The team returned to China in Falgun of the same year after completing the study. After that, there has been no progress in this section. During the initial study, the team conducted field observations, data collection, and a study of the Galchhi and Balaju roads. Although the tunnel was initially said to be 7 km long, the technical team showed that it could be 4 km in the initial study.

The cost estimate will be made only after the feasibility study. The tunnel will be constructed with a grant from the Chinese government. A pre-feasibility study has been completed and initiatives are being taken with the Chinese government for the feasibility study, said Suresh Poudel, Senior Divisional Engineer of the Development Assistance Implementation Division under the Roads Department. “We are asking the Chinese government for a feasibility study,” he said. “If it is found appropriate after the feasibility study, we will proceed with a detailed study and proceed with the construction.”

The Gujrebhanjyang-Chhahare-Gangate road from Tokha is currently operational. The road runs along the banks of the Tadi River, so it is closer to Tokha than entering Kathmandu via Prithvi Highway-Thankot from Galchhi, and the road department says that the tunnel is being built to shorten the distance of the road.

The feasibility study of the Chiyabari-Khurkot tunnel in Sindhuli under the BP Highway and the detailed feasibility study of the Dumkibas-Bardaghat tunnel under the Narayangadh-Butwal road section have been completed. Currently, there is a demand from the municipalities for the construction to be started quickly due to the daily traffic pressure on this section. But the implementation has not been done yet. The local people's representatives are demanding the construction of a tunnel as there are many roundabouts and the road distance is long in the Chiyabari-Khurkot section. The tunnel will start from the foothills above the Chiyabari of Kamalamai Municipality-2 and exit at the lower Bara of Golanjor Rural Municipality-7.

If the Chiyabari-Khurkot tunnel is constructed, the distance between Ramechhap, Dolakha, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, and Solukhumbu in the Terai will also be shortened. The center had conducted a feasibility study for this tunnel in the fiscal year 2076/77. According to the study for the fiscal year 2074/75, the distance will be 4.90 km. The distance and cost will be confirmed after the DPR is prepared. According to the feasibility study, it will cost Rs 16.8 billion to construct the Khurkot-Chiyabari tunnel. If the Chiyabari-Khurkot road tunnel is constructed, the distance of the Nagbeli road on the BP Highway will be reduced to less than one-third.

The distance of the Chiyabari-Khurkot road is currently 29.8 km, but if the tunnel is constructed, it is said that it will be reduced to 8.5 km. It currently takes one to one and a half hours to cover that distance. If the tunnel is constructed, the distance will be covered in 6 minutes. This road section carries 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles daily. During the festive season, 7,000 to 10,000 vehicles pass through. The feasibility study for this tunnel is yet to be completed. It has been included in the list of feasibility studies in the next year's budget.