MYAGDI: Damage to infrastructure along the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road is estimated at nearly Rs 1 billion.
According to the Beni-Jomsom-Korala Road Project, an additional budget of Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion will be required to restore the road damaged by landslides, floods and erosion along the Kaligandaki River following heavy rainfall from September 24 to 27.
Project chief Tejashwi Sharma said the Kaligandaki River had swept away or destroyed sections of the road at 10 locations, while landslides had caused damage at 50 locations.
“Although the road, which initially suffered damage estimated at Rs 80 million to Rs 90 million, was reopened within two weeks following preliminary repairs, we estimate that an additional Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion will be needed to restore it to its original condition,” Sharma said.
He added that, besides controlling landslides and river erosion, reconstruction work in the Myagdi section would need to follow the design specifications for asphalt pavement, replacing the previously used double bituminous surface treatment (DBST).
Of the 202-kilometre road connecting Maldhunga in Parbat district to the Korala border crossing in Mustang via Beni in Myagdi, the 33-kilometre section in Myagdi suffered the most extensive damage. In addition to areas already prone to landslides, erosion and slope instability, new vulnerable locations have also emerged.
Narendra Subedi, chief of the Federal Road Inspection Office in Pokhara, said the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, whose construction began in fiscal year 2073/74 BS, had suffered its most extensive damage to date.
Subedi, who was also the project’s first chief, said the recently upgraded section in Myagdi had sustained particularly severe damage.