JICA’s technical team inspects damages to BP Highway

KATHMANDU: A technical team of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has begun a site inspection to reconstruct the BP Highway which was damaged by the floods and landslides in the last week of September.

According to the Divisional Road Office (DRO), Bhaktapur, the team has conducted the inspection two times so far.

The DRO was waiting for JICA’s decision on the road reconstruction since the highway was built by the Government of Japan.

Senior Divisional Engineer at the DRO Bhaktapur, Suman Yogesh, said reconstruction will begin after JICA’s technical team submits its inspection report possibly by the first week of December.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had discussed the reconstruction support with the Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, about a month ago.

“We are also waiting for the JICA’s response. The reconstruction work will start immediately after JICA’s decision comes in the first week of December,” Yogesh said. He added that the DRO has already started the survey and design work in coordination with the stakeholders and is not in favor of delaying the reconstruction.

If JICA denies support for the reconstruction, the DRO plans to start the work within two months. The reconstruction work will cost around Rs 7 billion as per the preliminary estimates.

The section from Chaukidada in Kavrepalanchok to Barkhe Khola in Sindhuli has sustained significant damage. Although the highway opened for traffic after two weeks of the floods, the DRO has been restricting night-time movement, for 10 hours from 6 pm, due to the risk of dry landslides.

The highway, which connects the central capital Kathmandu to eastern Nepal, is operational in a single-lane or double-lane in different sections. According to the office, the Roshi Khola flood damaged about 10 km of the 21 km stretch from Chaukidada to Nepalthok.

Out of the total length of 160 km, the third section from Khurkhot in Sindhulli to Nepalthok (34 km) and the fourth section from Nepalthok to Dhulikhel in Kavrepalanchok (50 km), totaling 84 km, have sustained significant damage at various locations.

The highway was completed and handed over by the Japanese government in 2015.

(Translated from RSS)