Flood washes away five kilometres of diversion on BP Highway

By Kedar Timalsina, Banepa, Mar. 29: Heavy rainfall since Friday evening has damaged the temporary diversion along the BP Highway, which connects the eastern Tarai and hilly districts, bringing vehicular movement to a complete halt.

According to the Road Division Office, Bhaktapur, the highway has remained obstructed since Friday due to the rain. Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh said that flooding in the Roshi River, triggered by the rainfall, washed away approximately five kilometres of diversion road.

“The flood on Friday evening swept away around five kilometres of diversion road at several locations, including Chaukidanda, Katunje Ghumau­ne, Charsaybesi, Gimdi, Chiuribas, Boksikuna, Kaladhunga, Dalabeshi and Piple Sukhkha Pahiro,” Engineer Yogesh said.

He added that reconstruction of the diversion began early Saturday morning, enabling authorities to rescue around 200 stranded vehicles. 

“Considering the possibility of further rainfall on Saturday evening, temporary diversions were rebuilt, and stranded vehicles in the Kavrepalanchowk section of the highway were moved to safer locations,” he explained.

The diversion has been reopened for stranded vehicles and emergency services. 

However, in view of possible further rainfall, movement of non-essential vehicles has been restricted. Authorities plan to resume normal vehicular operations on the highway from Sunday.

Last year, flooding in the second last week of September had caused significant damage to a 28-kilometre stretch of the highway from Ek Number Pul to Nepalthok, including 25 kilometres within Kavrepalanchowk district. 

Reconstruction work is currently under way in four sections on the Kavrepalanchowk side and one section in Sindhuli.

Contracts have been awarded for various sections, the 8.5-kilometre stretch from Dalabeshi to Charsaybesi is being rebuilt by Khani/Kamaljeet/Awan JV at a cost of Rs. 1.22 billion, while the 11-kilometre stretch from Charsaybesi to Bhakundebesi has been contracted to Lama/Navakantipur JV for Rs. 1.14 billion.

Similarly, reconstruction of the 2.3-kilometre section from Dalabeshi to Sukhkha Pahiro has been awarded to Uma/Bhandari/Amarjyoti JV for Rs. 685.8 million, while the approximately 3.22-kilometre stretch from Piple (Sukhkha Pahiro) to Dalabeshi is to be undertaken by JICA, although work on this section has yet to commence.

Despite ongoing work in three sections, overall physical progress has reached only around 26 per cent, according to the Road Division Office. The office aims to ensure that vehicles can operate along the river’s original course during the upcoming monsoon season.