Rehabilitation of several portions of the BP Highway, which were destroyed by landslides in the last week of September 2024, is projected to cost over Rs 9.66 billion.  A post-flood analysis suggests that substantial funding will be required for reconstruction.
 

According to the Divisional Road Office in Bhaktapur, this estimate includes the reconstruction of various areas along the BP Highway, ranging from Bhakunde to Nepalthok.  Eight kilometers of the 12-kilometer roadway from Chowkidanda in Namobuddha, Kavrepalanchok, to Kaldhunga in Roshi Rural Municipality were seriously damaged.

According to the office's senior divisional engineer, Suman Yogesh, the study advises the installation of three types of walls: RCC retaining walls, plum walls, and gabion walls. "Although the study suggests building bridges first in some areas, a final decision will be made after further discussions on whether to build bridges or walls," he told me. 

He recommends RCC walls in areas prone to river floods, while plum and gabion walls should be utilized elsewhere. The office is presently waiting for confirmation of financing for the road restoration.  "The study for the road section's reconstruction has been finished, but finance has yet to be acquired. "We will begin the contract process once we have received confirmation from the donor agency and the Nepalese government," he stated.

 

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has already asked JICA for assistance with the reconstruction and is awaiting JICA's report and response. Keshav Kumar Sharma, Secretary of the Ministry, stated that preparations are underway to request funds from the Disaster Management Fund of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. 

 

In addition, the ministry is working on plans to reconstruct the highway with concessional loans from donor agencies like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.  In October of last year, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a study on the collapsed section of the highway in cooperation with the Government of Nepal. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli discussed the reconstruction with Kikuta Yutaka, the Japanese Ambassador to Nepal.