Track opening work of Mid-Hill Highway to complete by next month

KATHMANDU, NOV 23 -The government is likely to complete track opening of the Mid-Hill Highway within a month.  After the completion of the remaining 3.5 km in Jajarkot, the country will have road links from East to West passing through 24 hilly districts.

Officials at the Department of Roads said the work would have completed last month if the festive season and election drive had not slowed the pace. Earlier, the department had targeted to complete the job by the end of the last fiscal year, but it had not been possible due to the rainy season affecting the work.

“We expect the track opening to complete by mid-December,” said Bala Ram Mishra, chief of the Mid-Hill Highway (Western Section). He said the work had not moved ahead effectively in the past for the lack of access roads. Mishra said they were working from both ends of the remaining alignment to finish the work at the earliest. The Mid-Hill road is one of the 21 national pride projects.


The proposed 1,776-km highway connects Chiyabhanjyang of Panchathar in the east with Jhulaghat of Baitadi in the west. It has been provided Rs 1.92 billion for the current fiscal year. In a bid to expedite the project work, the government has also signed a performance contract with Mishra, as it does with other national priority projects.

Mishra has been asked to complete the track opening , laying foundation for 14 bridges, blacktopping 5 km and repairing 400 km within the current fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Mishra said the work on the 14 bridges has been started and contracts have been awarded for blacktopping a 30 km stretch.

The Mid-Hill project is divided into two sections — eastern and western — for effective project implementation. For the current fiscal year, the eastern section has been assigned to expand 10 km road, gravel 14 km, lay foundation for 11 bridges, blacktop 34 km and repair 221 km. Track opening of the eastern section had completed in 2010-11.

There are a total of 48 bridges along the Mid-Hill road, as per the detailed project report (DPR) readied by the government in 2010. The highway is considered lifeline for socio-economic development of mid-hill districts. It passes through 12 zones, 24 districts, and 215 villages and serves estimated 7 million populations. The government is also carrying out feasibility study to reduce the length of the proposed highway to around 1,400 km to save travel time, cost and required investment.