Humla district headquarters connected to national road network

KATHMANDU: Simkot, the district headquarters of the Himalayan district of Humla, has been officially connected to the national road network.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated a Bailey bridge on the Karnali Corridor Road, over Chwakhola River in Kharpunath Rural Municipality-5, amid a ceremony on Sunday. With this, Simkot has been connected to the national road network, 26 years after the construction of the Karnali Corridor Road began.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Oli said that the Karnali Corridor will be developed as a trade route connecting Nepal with both China and India. He added that the corridor is not only important for the people of Karnali and Humla but also holds strategic significance as Nepal’s trade route with two neighboring countries.

Oli also announced plans to upgrade it into a two-lane blacktopped road in the near future. “We will also build a permanent bridge in Chwakhola,” he added.Oli also said a quarantine facility would be built in Hilsa, along the Nepal-China border, to boost cross-border trade.

The Nepal Army began installing the Bailey bridge on March 23 last year to link Humla with the road network.

The corridor road, which begins at Khulalu along the Karnali Highway in Kalikot, follows the Karnali River through Bajura and Humla districts, reaching Hilsa at the Nepal-China border. While track has been opened on most sections of this road, the Nepal Army is working on the most challenging 11-kilometer rocky section from Lalibagar to Dullikuna.

Minister for Defense Manbir Rai, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal, CPN-UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali, Karnali Province Chief Yagya Raj Joshi, Karnali Chief Minister Yam Lal Kandel, and Chief of Army Staff of Nepal Army Ashok Raj Sigdel were also present on the occasion.

(With inputs from RSS)