Kathmandu, 5 Oct: The government has moved ahead with a plan to construct an alternative route across the Trishuli River to reduce traffic congestion on the Prithvi Highway and provide a long-term solution to the frequent disruptions along the highway. The government has initiated a study for the construction of the proposed alternative route.
The proposal has once again gained attention after the Prithvi Highway was severely damaged and traffic came to a standstill in the Krishnabhir and Parewabhir sections due to riverbank erosion and landslides caused by the devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa and subsequent continuous rainfall. The risk of road obstruction due to landslides has also increased in the Jogimara section of the Prithvi Highway.
Engineer Arjunjung Thapa, a member of the National Planning Commission responsible for the infrastructure sector, said the government had moved forward with plans to construct an alternative route across the Trishuli River to ensure the continuity of the transport network during natural disasters such as floods and landslides and to provide alternative access whenever the Prithvi Highway is disrupted.
“The study for the construction of this alternative route has begun. The Nepal Geotechnical Society has been assigned responsibility for carrying out the study. The society will submit its report to the government in three months. The construction process will move forward based on that report,” he said.
A joint meeting of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the National Planning Commission had decided to assign the Nepal Geotechnical Society to conduct the study for the construction of the alternative route on the other side of the Trishuli River.
Thapa said the government had proposed constructing an alternative route particularly through the area connecting Galchhi and Malekhu in Dhading to Chitwan.
“This will not only reduce traffic congestion on the main highway but will also serve as a lifeline by keeping the federal capital Kathmandu connected with the rest of the country during landslides or other disasters,” he said. He added that local and provincial governments had already opened tracks for several rural roads along the proposed route, meaning that the government would face less difficulty and expense in acquiring land than in the past.
According to Thapa, the proposed route will start from Dharke and extend through Galchhi, Parewatar, Arubasatar and Benighat, then connect to Ghyalchok in Gorkha’s Gandaki Rural Municipality, cross beyond Muglin and extend to Gaindakot in eastern Nawalpur.
Once the alternative route is completed, there will be no need to further expand the existing Prithvi Highway, and traffic congestion along the Muglin–Kathmandu section is expected to decrease significantly.
“Local governments in Dhading have already opened and even brought into operation tracks in some places along the Galchhi–Malekhu section. The plan is to upgrade them into two-lane roads and blacktop them in the coming days,” Thapa said.
He explained that the alternative route had been proposed because some sections of the Prithvi Highway cannot be expanded to four lanes due to geographical constraints.
Once the alternative route is constructed and brought into operation, local residents will benefit, while vehicles currently using the Prithvi Highway will also be able to travel along the other side of the river. Thapa said there would be no major difficulty crossing between the two sides of the Trishuli because bridges already exist at several locations and others are under construction.
Around 20,000 vehicles travel along the Prithvi Highway every day, and the government expects traffic congestion to decrease after the alternative route comes into operation.
Thapa said that if the alternative route is not constructed, traffic management on the Prithvi Highway will become increasingly difficult and risky in the coming years.
He said that with the construction of the alternative road along the Sitapaila–Dharke section now nearing completion, there is a need to build the proposed route from Dharke across the Trishuli River and connect it to the east-west road network.
Study Was Conducted 25 Years Ago
According to Thapa, the Department of Roads conducted a study 25 years ago with support from the World Bank on constructing an alternative route across the Trishuli River as an alternative to the Prithvi Highway.
The study found that constructing an alternative route along the opposite bank of the Trishuli River was technically feasible.
According to the study, a road of around 60 kilometers would be sufficient to connect Galchhi with Muglin. Of the 60-kilometer stretch, around 50 kilometers of local gravel roads have already been constructed. These roads would only need to be upgraded. There would be no need to provide compensation for land acquisition.
The remaining 10 kilometers would pass through government shrubland, meaning no land compensation would be required there either.
Explaining the findings of the previous study, Thapa said, “The study showed that an alternative route across the Trishuli River was necessary to avoid disruptions on the Prithvi Highway. At that time, the estimated construction cost of the alternative route was Rs 3 billion.”
He said that since tracks have already been opened and brought into operation at several locations along the Galchhi–Malekhu section on the opposite side of the Trishuli, the proposed alternative route could now be constructed at a cost of less than Rs 3 billion.
