Repairs begin on Myagdi roads damaged by September floods and landslides
Repairs have begun on two flood-damaged roads in Myagdi, where the project says rebuilding the Beni–Jomsom–Korala road will cost about Rs 3 billion and take two to three years.
Repair work has started on road sections in Myagdi district damaged by the floods and landslides that followed heavy rain from Asoj 8 to 11 (September 24 to 27). According to Gorkhapatra, the Beni–Jomsom–Korala road project has begun repairing and improving the Kaligandaki Corridor road so that it can carry traffic in both directions. Until now only part of the landslide debris had been cleared and the road ran one-way.
Project chief Tejashwi Sharma said crews are clearing landslide debris, filling potholes, laying gravel on muddy stretches and widening narrow sections at several points in the Myagdi section, from Tilkeni to Dana. Traffic has grown with containers arriving from China through the Korala border point and the start of the Mustang tourist season, he said. The project says the rain damaged the road in 46 places and that roughly 12 kilometres collapsed completely, so new tracks have to be cut in places. It estimates that rebuilding the damaged road will cost about Rs 3 billion and that making it fully usable will take two to three years.
Separately, on the Beni–Darwang–Muna road at Balaute in Malika Rural Municipality-6, the Myagdi River cut away about 100 metres of paved road and stopped traffic completely. Information officer Ghanshyam Rokamagar of the Infrastructure Development Office said work on a temporary track began on Wednesday, in partnership with the provincial government, local governments and the hydropower projects under construction along the Myagdi River. The plan is to lower the road grade for 30 metres on each side of the damaged section and place gabion mesh along the riverbank, and Rokamagar said one-way traffic could be running within 15 days. Of the Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) the provincial government gave the office, Rs 15 lakh is for gabion mesh and Rs 10 lakh for a wall. For a long-term fix, the office has asked the ministry for a further Rs 2.22 crore (Rs 22.2 million).
Gandaki Province's physical infrastructure and transport minister, Nanda Prasad Nyaupane, inspected the site on Tuesday and told the office to open a temporary route. He has promised a long-term plan and budget for controlling river cutting and protecting the Beni–Darwang road. Provincial Assembly member Resham Jugjali said the hydropower projects will supply bulldozers and tippers and Malika Rural Municipality will provide stone, and he asked the provincial government to open the road quickly because people in three local units are struggling on a narrow, winding alternative. Gorkhapatra reports that the closure has also made it hard for the hydropower projects to move construction material, equipment and fuel. Residents want permanent structures to control the river's cutting and protect settlements; the Dukhubesi settlement at Balaute is among those at risk.
In Beni Bazaar, the district headquarters, preparations have begun to rebuild a protective wall that flooding in the Kaligandaki River cut away, Onlinekhabar reported. The Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project office puts the preliminary cost at about Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) and plans to invite tenders within a month, aiming to finish river-control work before the coming monsoon. Project engineer Narjang Gurung said the flood damaged about 80 metres of wall behind Ganesh Tol in Beni Municipality-8 and about 15 metres in front of the Myagdi JCI office in ward 7, and the cutting also affected the ring road. According to the report, the wall and ring road built earlier at the site are the structures to be rebuilt.