BP Highway to remain closed for 12 hours at night for a month
July 17, Kathmandu: The Kavrepalanchowk road section along the BP Highway is to remain closed for 12 hours at night for a month. The District Administration Office, Kavrepalanchowk, has confirmed the closure of traffic from Kavrebhanjyang to Nepalthok, the border with Sindhuli, for one month, bearing in mind the increased risk of landslides and floods during the active monsoon season.
The closure will be enforced from 5:00pm to 5:00am, said Chief District Officer of Kavrepalanchowk, Umesh Kumar Dhakal. Previously, a meeting of the inter-district coordination committee of Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhuli, and Ramechhap districts had decided to close the highway from 6:30pm to 5:00 am, beginning on June 21.
In the past week alone, floods and landslides have already disrupted this section four times. The devastating flooding caused by unseasonal downpours in September 2024 had significantly damaged the BP Highway, particularly from Chaukidanda of Kavrepalanchowk to Barshekhola of Sindhuli.
An eight-kilometre section was swept away by the flood. Of the total 160-km highway, 34 kilometres on the third section from Khurkot to Nepalthok of Sindhuli and 50 kilometres on the fourth section from Nepalthok to Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchowk were damaged at various locations. Contracts have begun for restoring the highway in four sections, it has been said.
As the shortest route connecting the Kathmandu Valley with eastern Nepal, the highway sees the movement of thousands of vehicles each day.
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