As the road section under the BP highway, which was swept away by the floods and landslides caused by the rains of last October, could not be reconstructed, the passengers have to travel at risk in the coming rains. Due to road collapse, vehicles have to cross rivers and temporary roads for the past eight months.

Such a situation is risky in itself. In case of heavy rains, the possibility of accidents increases due to the collapse of temporary structures, landslides, floods, vehicle skidding etc. If the road connection is broken, the passengers may be inconvenienced. Travel time is extended. Even though there are similar problems on every road section during the rainy season, there is no guarantee of safe travel as all the roads leading into the capital, including the BP highway, have been severely damaged by the rains of October.

The risk has increased as the government has not paid attention to reconstruction in time. Therefore, the traveler should be extra careful before traveling. The government should also assess the possible risks and speed up the preparatory work so as to ensure the safety of the passengers from repairing the roads.

The flash flood in October damaged about 12 km of the road in Chowkidanda-Barkhekhola section. Passengers were stranded on the road for several days due to the breakdown of road connectivity. They reached a safe place by walking hungry and thirsty. Only two weeks after the flood, the BP highway could be opened in a one-way manner. After further repairs, traffic is now operating on the Dhulamya/Hilamya road. But since the beginning, the road has been blocked due to landslides, the vehicle has been damaged, the passenger has been injured, the vehicle has slipped and overturned. As a

, after the road collapsed due to floods and landslides in Kavre Chowkidanda, which has more problems, a temporary road has been built around it and vehicles have been operated. Vehicles coming to Kathmandu from the east tend to slip while going uphill in this section. On Tuesday only, a pick-up van with Indian number plates, which was coming to Kathmandu from Kakdvitta with Bhuin Kathar, overturned.

Before the October flood, around 7,000 small and big vehicles used to pass through the BP highway every day. Now this number has dropped to four thousand. In July-August, 150 electric vehicles ply daily, but now around 90 ply. The once-exciting electric vehicle is now lax because it's hard to maneuver on bad roads. The BP highway, which has been established as a strong alternative for vehicles going east, also shortened the travel time due to its shorter route connecting Kathmandu with Madhesh.

Cities like Khurkot were built. There has been a lot of private investment targeting this highway, from hotels, restaurants to electric charging stations. But the poor condition of the roads has adversely affected their business and employment. Taking into account all these examples, the government was expected to play an active role in restoring the roads.

But months passed while the Japanese government, which helped BP build the highway, expected to help with the reconstruction as well. Finally, it was agreed that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will only work on the 3.2 km Dalabensi-Barkhekhola section. Meanwhile, the flood has destroyed about 12 km in places and 28 km will have to be rebuilt.

In the meantime, the road department sent letters to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and to the Ministry of Finance for the preparation of the road itself. The budget for BP highway reconstruction was finalized only last February. Of which 1 billion rupees for Sindhuli section and 7.5 billion rupees for Kavre section have been allocated, the contract process has been started. But even though the contract is signed immediately, the road division said that the reconstruction work will not be done during this year's summer season.

is the essence of it, the issue of safe travel of passengers could not be prioritized by the government, so the construction of paved roads was not progressed. As a result, passengers have to travel in dryads throughout the winter this year. This means that the government is neglecting its responsibility to maintain the condition of the roads and is insensitive to the safety of the citizens.

While building structures like roads and bridges, quality cannot be ensured by pre-estimating natural disasters. As a result, during heavy rains, problems such as landslides, collapses, and bridge collapses occur on most of the roads in Nepal. So traveling by road is always risky after the onset of monsoon. After the floods in October, it has been analyzed that the quality of most of the roads in the hilly areas has further deteriorated. As it is estimated that this year's monsoon will receive more rain than Sardar, there is concern that the condition of roads that have been damaged or degraded at that time will further deteriorate.

In such a situation, passengers may have to suffer more. Therefore, first of all, it is advisable for the passenger to travel only with advance information about the weather and road conditions. The government should also activate its mechanisms to deliver proper information and 'updates' to the passengers.