The Mid-Hill Highway will bypass Kathmandu in a bid to lessen traffic congestion in the valley and on Prithvi Highway. The government’s decision to change the alignment of the cross-country road has also been guided by the objective of including more hilly districts in the network.
As per the proposed new route, the highway will link Pokhara by taking a more northerly route through Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Lamjung. Under the old plan, the highway goes from Kavre to Kathmandu to Pokhara. Officials of the Department of Roads said they were also considering avoiding Pokhara city by constructing the road along the northern side of Begnas Lake.
With the new alignment, the total length of the highway in the Western Section is expected to increase by around 40 km.
Currently, the length of the Western Section of the 1,776-km Mid-Hill Highway is 1,108 km.
The construction of the Mid-Hill Highway started five years ago. It will extend along the length of the country from Chiyo Bhanjyang in Panchthar district in the east to Jhulaghat in Baitadi district in the west. The project is estimated to cost more than Rs 43 billion.
The route beginning from eastern Nepal will pass through Nepalthok, Bohore Dovan, Panchkhal, Melamchi, Sipaghat, Baunepati, Chilaunebeshi, Patibhanjyang, Syanu Kattike, Chhahare, Trishuli, Salyantar, Palungtar and Bhorletar to reach Pokhara.
Meanwhile, Balaram Mishra, chief of the Mid-Hill Highway (Western Section), said that the change in alignment was focused on extending the proposed highway from new locations where road infrastructure could be more instrumental for achieving progress. “The new alignment will also help reduce traffic congestion in Kathmandu and on Prithvi Highway,” said Mishra.
He added that they were planning to carry out a detailed project report (DPR) of the sections falling in new districts like Nuwakot and Lamjung as per the government’s decision to adopt an alternative route.
The National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport have given the go-ahead to change the alignment of the highway linking Pokhara. However; the government is yet to ascertain the total length of the new track that will be opened based on the changed plan. Due to the detour, the mid-hill road network will touch three new districts—Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot and Lamjung.
The highway had been originally planned as a lifeline for hilly districts connecting 24 districts in 12 zones and serving nearly 7 million people. The track opening of the highway as per the old plan is scheduled to complete within a few weeks as work remains to be done on only 3 km in Jajarkot in the Western Section.
Meanwhile, the Department of Roads is also carrying out a feasibility study to reduce the total length of the highway from 1,776 km to around 1,400 km.
Department officials said that even though the feasibility study was ongoing, there had been no changes in the alignment except on the Nepalthok-Dhulikhel-Kathmandu-Pokhara route.
The department has separated the highway into two parts for the feasibility study—Eastern Section (Chiyobhanjyang Ganeshchowk-Myaglung-Basantapur-Hile-Bhojpur-Diktel-Ghurmi-Dhulikhel-Kathmandu-Pokhara) and Western Section (Pokhara-Baglung-Musikot Border-Rukumkot-Musikot-Chourjahari-Dailekh-Lainchour-Saijula-Belkhet-Mangalsen-Silgadhi-Satbanjh-Jhulaghat).
In 2011, a DPR of the mid-hill road conducted by consultant Tech Studio of Engineering (TSE) had suggested exploring possibilities of alternative alignments to shorten the highway and reduce costs. The department said shorter alignments can be adopted to reduce costs and maintain the speed limit at 50 km per hour. Department officials said that the highway’s length can be shortened in the Jorsal-Tamor-Sankrati, Sankrati-Myaglung, Myaglung-Basantapur-Hile, Hile-Leguwaghat-Bhojpur, Chaurjahari-Dailkeh-Dullu-Lainchaur and Mangalsen-Silgadhi sections.
On average, it costs more than Rs 10 million per km to open the track and Rs 20 million per km to blacktop it. It is estimated that if the length of the highway is slashed, the total cost will come down by around Rs 9 billion. The DPR had showed that the Jorsal-Tamor-Sankrati and Sankrati-Myaglung sections (102 km) can be replaced by the Jorsal-Myaglung section (69 km).
Similarly, 19 km can be cut by avoiding Hile while joining Myaglung with Bhojpur. If Dailekh is avoided in the Chaurjahari-Dullu-Lainchour section, 7 km can be chopped off. As per the DPR, the alternative alignments of Bhajankot-Bayalpate and Sanfe-Dipayal in the Mangalsen-Silgadhi section will save about 5 km and 20- 25 km respectively.
source-ekantipur.com
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