KATHMANDU, Oct 28: Despite the chaos of conflict and transition, the nation has undergone remarkable progress in road-building over a decade. The momentum in road construction, deemed the foundation of overall development, seems to be such that hopefully all the district headquarters will be connected over the next three years.
According to statistics complied by the Roads Department, over 6000 km of road was built between 1998 and 2007. The total length of roads built by 2007 is 19,207 km. The projects underway should take no longer than three years to connect the remaining six district headquarters -- of Solukhumbu, Dolpa, Humla, Mugu, Manang and Bajura, said chief of Roads Section at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Joint Secretary Tulsi Prasad Sitaula.
The nation has been facing a problem of transportation in the mid-hill and mountain regions in contrast to the Tarai, which is well-connected by the East-West Highway. In the next three years, the mid-hill and mountain regions will see completion of track-opening for the 1,700 km Mid-Hill Highway.
According to Sitaula, the Mid-Hill Highway will upgrade and use existing roads totaling 1,100 km and construct new connecting segments, totaling 600km, including 200 km built last year. The government has given high priority to this project, allocating Rs 710 million for fiscal year 2066/67. "After opening the track within two years, the government will start bidding for resources for black-topping, which will presumably take 15 years and an estimated Rs 10 billion," he said, adding that the Mid-Hill Highway, unlike many other existing highways in the hills, would be double-lane.
There are several ongoing projects which, besides connecting the six untouched district, will constitute a convenient road network in the remote regions. The government this year remodeled the Jumla-Humla-Hilsa road and it is now to start from Dailekh and follow the Karnali River through Achham, Bajura and Humla. The track is now open along an initial 50 km segment. There is no plan to extend it to Hilsa because of high costs and also because an option of using the Tibetan route also exists. Sitaula said the road would prove a lifeline for the Karnali region, opening up easy access to Tibet.
There is also the 210 km Surkhet-Jumla road now in the black-topping phase over 127 km in addition to 35 km black-topped last year. The project has Rs 1 billion in World Bank funding.
The 107-km Chinchhu (Surkhet)-Jajarkot road will be black-topped within three years. According to senior officials at the ministry, the trend of black-topping roads soon after track-opening takes place is a welcome development. "We start designing the black-topping while working on the track," Sitaula said.
Bajura is to be connected by a 27-km road starting from Sanphebagar, Doti, with Rs 3.6 billion in financing by India. Likewise, Solukhumbu will see a road from Okhaldhunga and Manang will be connected by road to Lamjung. All three roads will have their tracks laid out within this year and will be black-topped within three years, the ministry claims.
Dolpa is the only district where uncertainty looms because construction of a 126-km road has been in limbo since last year, because of a tussle between Jajarkot and Rukum districts to have the road on their side. While the Nepal Army was entrusted with the contract for track-opening, people on both side of the Bheri River did not let the work begin last year. "This year too it is not certain as neither side has relented despite our proposal to build as many bridges as required to connect the two sides," a senior official said.
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