Beni-Jomsom-Korala Road Needs Up to Rs 4 Billion More After Floods, Project Says

Floods and landslides did damage estimated at around Rs 1 billion to the Beni-Jomsom-Korala highway, and restoring it to its original condition will take another Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion, the road project told Republica for its report on Tuesday, October 20. Project chief Tejashwi Sharma said rain that fell from September 24 to 27 let the Kaligandaki River sweep away or destroy the road at 10 locations, while landslides hit another 50.

The 202 kilometer road links Korala, which Onlinekhabar called Nepal's only currently operational border crossing with China. It runs from Maldhunga in Parbat through Beni in Myagdi to the Korala border point in Mustang, Onlinekhabar reported. It carries containers headed to and from the Korala crossing, tourists travelling to Mustang, and traders moving apples and potatoes to market, the outlet said. More than 500 containers of goods brought in through Korala for the Dashain season were stranded in Mustang and Myagdi while the road was shut, Onlinekhabar reported, citing officials.

The 33 kilometer stretch in Myagdi took the worst damage, Republica reported. Narendra Subedi, chief of the Federal Road Inspection Office in Pokhara and the project's founding chief, said it was the most extensive damage since construction began in fiscal year 2073/74 BS, and that a recently upgraded section in Myagdi was hit hard. Travel through that Myagdi stretch, which used to take just over an hour, now takes three to four hours, ePardafas reported. Traffic now runs through a temporary route at Pokharebagar, where floods washed away the road bridge, and narrow stretches carry only one lane, ePardafas reported. Vehicles are getting stuck and queues are forming, Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Subin Shrestha told the outlet.

Initial repairs reopened the road within two weeks, Sharma told Republica, but full restoration needs more money. The around Rs 1 billion damage figure and the Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion restoration figure are the project's estimates, not money the government has set aside. Mahabir Pun, the minister for science, technology and innovation, inspected the route and said the government would not let funding shortages hold up the work, ePardafas reported. None of the reports says any of that money has been approved or released.

A project already over budget

The flood damage hits a project that was already over budget. Its total budget has already grown from an initial Rs 10.56 billion to a revised Rs 15 billion, Republica reported in August, citing Sharma, and its construction deadline has been pushed back to fiscal year 2088/89 BS. By the end of the last fiscal year, Rs 8.96 billion had been spent, with physical progress at 65 percent and financial progress at 60 percent, the project said.

What we still do not know

• Whether the project has formally asked the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport or the Ministry of Finance for the Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion it says full restoration needs, and whether any money has been released. Only those ministries can say.
• Whether queues on the one lane Myagdi stretches have eased since ePardafas reported them, and how many of the more than 500 stranded containers have now crossed. The road project and district officials in Myagdi and Mustang could confirm.