The floods that struck in October 2002 caused landslides at more than a dozen places on the Kanti Highway connecting Hetauda and Kathmandu, disrupting traffic. The flood also washed away the bridge over the Bagmati River in Baguwa connecting Lalitpur and Makawanpur, cutting off communication between the two districts.

Fifteen months after the flood, work is finally starting after contracting. The pace of work is slow. Due to this, there is a risk of the same risk as last year in the coming monsoon. Rajan Pandey, an engineer at the Kanti Highway Road Planning Office, claims that the work is being completed in the next fiscal year.

‘All roads will be two-lane,’ he said, ‘contracts have been made for all sections to be completed in the next fiscal year.’ Road improvement work is currently underway. Work is being done on a 29-kilometer stretch from Tikabhaiwar in Lalitpur to Baguwa under contract. The total contract amount for this section is Rs 1.33 billion. 

Kankai-Bright Multi-Divya Jyoti JV has won the contract for the Baguwa-Takhurche and Tinpane-Tikabhairav ​​sections for Rs 910 million. The contract for the Tinpane-Takhurche section has been won by Marseille-Red Earth-Prakash Tara JV for Rs 180 million. Engineer Pandey says that in some sections, work is being done under separate contracts for landslide control. ‘The contracts for road construction and landslide control have been awarded separately,’ he said, ‘Work is being done on both the contracted sections.’ 

Engineer Pandey said that work is also being done under contracts for 50 km from Baguwa to Hetauda Buddha Chowk. The contract amount for this section, including landslide management, is Rs 740 million, where the contract for the Chuchekhola-Thingan road section was won by Pandey-Kantipath-DCCPL JV for Rs 280 million. The contract for the Thingan to Mahadevtar section was won by Sarva Shakti-Panchakanya-Sunstar JV for Rs 70 million.

‘The construction of the footpath in Hetauda Bazaar has been completed,’ said Engineer Pandey, ‘More than five hundred four-wheeled vehicles pass through this section every day.’ This road has been becoming suitable for vehicles going to the Eastern Terai. 

‘You don’t have to suffer in the coming rains,’ he said, ‘Work on the structure and slope is currently underway.’ Engineer Pandey said that 900 meters of road slope have been made in the Baguwa-Thigan section towards Makawanpur. ‘The target is to construct the road by overlaying seven km of road, laying two km of new blacktop and making three km of slope in the current fiscal year,’ he said, ‘Work on the construction of a bridge in Baguwa is also underway.’ Freight, passenger and private vehicles pass through this section. 

Tankers carrying dairy products, vehicles carrying chicken and vegetables also enter the capital via this route. It is a two-lane road. About two kilometers of the road, including the section where the mountain cutting could not be done, is still a single lane. Pandey said that road improvement work will be done in this section as per the new contract. A concrete bridge is being built three meters below the current bridge, and the contract for this has been awarded to KM Engineers Builders for Rs 180 million and is expected to be completed by Ashad 2083, Pandey said.