Restoration of flood-hit sections of BP Highway begins

KATHMANDU: The Department of Roads has begun the temporary restoration of the 200-meter section of BP Highway at Chaukidanda of Kavre.

The Division Road Office, Bhaktapur, has deployed the necessary workforce and equipment for the restoration of the road damaged by last weekend’s floods in the Roshi River.

BP Highway is a crucial road linking the eastern parts of Madhesh Province and Koshi Province with the Kathmandu Valley.

According to RSS, the Division Road Office Bhaktapur has begun work to divert the Roshi River to its original course. Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh said that construction has begun to temporarily resume traffic at the same location where the road was washed away by the floods. “Within two days, we hope to restore the road for at least one-way traffic,” Yogesh told RSS news agency.

Hundreds of people were stranded when the road section was washed away by last weekend’s floods. They were rescued to safer locations by Nepal Army helicopters.

Restoration works are underway at different road sections of the highway. Although exact damage figures from Bhakunde to Nepalthok are not yet available, it is estimated that about two kilometers of road in this 29 km section have been completely washed away by the flood, according to RSS.

According to police, about 1,900 meters of road at 14 locations on the Bhakunde-Nepalthok section of the BP Highway have been damaged. Traffic, however, has resumed on the Nepalthok-Khurkot road section.

(With inputs from RSS)