Kathmandu, May 26: Reconstruction work on the Piple–Barkhekhola section of the BP Highway in Kavrepalanchok resumed on Monday with assistance from Japan. Japanese Ambassador Maeda Toru and Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Gopal Prasad Sigdel jointly inaugurated the project.
According to Suman Yogesh, Chief Senior Division Engineer at the Road Division Office, Bhaktapur, reconstruction has begun on a 3.2-kilometer stretch of the road with financial and technical support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
He said that around 30 kilometers of the BP Highway in Kavrepalanchok and Sindhuli districts were found to require reconstruction and repair after floods and landslides on Ashoj 12, 2081 BS caused extensive damage.
The Japan-based Shimizu Corporation has been awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the Piple–Barkhekhola section. According to Yogesh, a bilateral agreement was signed on Kartik 13, 2082 BS, under which Japan agreed to provide a grant assistance of 2.8 billion yen. Construction work began after completion of the remaining procedures.
Earlier, the JICA team had carried out preparatory works such as setting up camps and constructing temporary roads. With this section included, damaged portions of the BP Highway are currently under reconstruction in four separate sections.
Yogesh stated that approximately 25 percent of the work has been completed so far on the three contracted road sections on the Kavrepalanchok side. Following further damage caused by floods and landslides and subsequent monsoon rains in 2025, permanent reconstruction work formally began last December after completing procedural requirements.
Construction of RCC retaining walls is currently underway at various damaged locations. In Chaukidanda, plum walls are being constructed from the river side, while RCC retaining walls are also being installed at Charsaybesi and Bhakundebesi, he added.
Similarly, road widening works are ongoing in the Dalabesi, Mangaltar, and Charsaybesi–Narke sections. Special structures resistant to future flood damage have been designed for areas where roads were completely washed away by floods over the past two years.
Yogesh said that works such as construction of protective structures and road widening at damaged locations are expected to be completed this year, while blacktopping and remaining structural works will continue next year. The reconstructed highway will also be upgraded into a two-lane road.
“The reconstructed sections of the highway will have two lanes, and additional bridges will be built alongside the existing ones so that the bridges can also accommodate two lanes,” Yogesh said. According to him, there are plans to upgrade five bridges into two-lane structures.
A contract worth Rs 1.42 billion has been awarded to Khani–A One–Kamaljit JV for reconstruction of the 8.5-kilometer road section from Dalabesi to Charsaybesi.
Likewise, Lama–Navakantipur JV has received a Rs 1.33 billion contract for reconstruction of the 11.08-kilometer road section from Charsaybesi to Bhakundebesi, while Kharidhunga–Ghising–Kshitij JV has been contracted for Rs 610 million, including VAT, to reconstruct the 4.9-kilometer stretch from Nepalthok to Barkhekhola.
The government had already awarded contracts for all other damaged sections except the one being reconstructed by JICA before last October. The government has approved a budget source agreement of Rs 8.5 billion for reconstruction of the damaged sections. Of this, Rs 7.5 billion has been allocated for the three road sections in Kavrepalanchok and Rs 1 billion for one section in Sindhuli.
Construction of the BP Highway — the 160-kilometer Dhulikhel–Sindhuli–Bardibas road — began in fiscal year 1996/97 (2053/54 BS) with grant assistance from the Japanese government. The highway, constructed in different phases, was formally handed over to the Government of Nepal by the Japanese government on Asar 18, 2072 BS.
People’s News Monitoring Service/RSS
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