Work Begins on Temporary Diversion along Flood-Hit BP Highway

The construction of a temporary road diversion along the sections of the BP Highway that were washed away by recent Roshi River floods.

The Division Road Office, Bhaktapur, in coordination with Roshi Rural Municipality and Namobuddha Municipality, has started rebuilding the diversion by redirecting the river to one side.

Rain-induced disasters at the end of September last year had damaged around eight kilometres of the highway in multiple sections. Full repairs were still pending when continuous rainfall from October 3 to 5 triggered fresh floods and landslides, further affecting the same stretch.

Engineer Bindhu Adhikari said that temporary road construction will begin at one site in Chaukidanda, Kavrepalanchok, and at three or four more locations towards Sindhuli. As the road along the Roshi riverbank has been completely eroded, the new diversion will be built above the water level, Adhikari added.

Efforts to rebuild the diversion from the Sindhuli side of the BP Highway also began on Monday. Superintendent of Police Lal Dhwaj Subedi, chief of the Sindhuli District Police Office, said that a diversion from Nepalthok is under construction. The Division Road Office in Khalsite, Sindhuli, has deployed two excavators to construct the temporary route towards Nepalthok.

Several stretches of the road between Sindhuli and Namobuddha’s Chaukidanda in Kavrepalanchok were swept away by the floods. With the highway completely blocked, vehicles are currently using alternative routes via Khurkot–Manthali along the Araniko Highway to reach the Kathmandu Valley.

(With inputs from RSS)