Due to the lack of proper management of the drains built along the roads, the Rukum East-West section of the Mid-Hill Highway is becoming weak and risky. In some places, the drains have been buried for a long time, while in others they are filled with soil. But maintenance has not been done. In recent times, governments at all three levels have been investing with priority in the development and expansion of roads, which are important development infrastructure. However, regular maintenance of the constructed roads has not been done. The failure to properly maintain the drains built along the roads to divert water has added to the challenge of road safety.

The drains have not been properly managed in most places of the 121 kilometers of the 879-kilometer-long Rukum East-West section of the Mid-Hill Highway, which the government has taken forward as a national pride project.
Local Kulraj Gharti says that the stakeholders have been negligent in the regular maintenance of the drains built during the construction of the highway. "When the water that should flow in the drain flows onto the road, it not only becomes difficult to move around during the rainy season, but also the soil and gravel also flow along with the drain water, and since heavy vehicles drive on it, the blacktop also gets damaged," he said. 

Driver Naresh Khadka says that when the water that should flow in the drain flows onto the road, the road becomes slippery and it becomes dangerous to drive when the soil and stones are washed away from above. In some cases, he has experienced that stones on the road have fallen and pedestrians have been injured. 

Niranjan Thapa, chief engineer of the Mid-Hill Highway Project Office, Dailekh, says that the road drains have not been maintained properly due to the haphazard construction of branch roads above the highway and the falling of stones, soil and landslides.  "The Road Act 2031 stipulates that prior approval should be obtained from the relevant division or project office before constructing such branch roads, but there is negligence in its implementation," he said. "We are doing it according to the law, but the municipal and provincial level offices are ignoring our requests." Due to this, he said, when mud, rocks and landslides fall from those roads, the drains are blocked and water flows on the road.

The road drains should have been repaired before the monsoon. In many places on this road, landslides and soil that fell in the previous monsoon have not been removed. The project office is claiming that it is working by hiring 'length workers' in different places.

Out of the total 121 kilometers of the Rukum East-West section of the Mid-Hill Highway, 89 kilometers of the Chaurjahari Road Division Office have been handed over, while the Project Office is working on the remaining 32 kilometers.