KAVREPALANCHOK: Japanese Ambassador Maeda Toru and Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Gopal Prasad Sigdel jointly laid the foundation stone on Monday to mark the official start of permanent reconstruction on the Piple–Barkhekhola section of the BP Highway.

The project—funded by a 2.80 billion JPY grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)—will see Tokyo’s Shimizu Corporation rebuild a highly vulnerable 3.2-kilometer stretch completely devastated by the catastrophic floods and landslides of late September 2024.

Senior Divisional Engineer Suman Yogesh noted that roughly 30 kilometers of the highway between Kavrepalanchok and Sindhuli require extensive repairs following back-to-back damage from the 2024 disaster and subsequent 2025 monsoon rains.

Beyond JICA’s segment, the government has launched parallel state-funded contracts worth Rs 8.50 billion across three other packages in Kavrepalanchok (Rs 7.50 billion) and one in Sindhuli (Rs 1 billion), where domestic joint ventures have already achieved 25% progress.

To withstand future climate disasters, the entire upgrade transitions the highway and five crucial bridges into a robust, permanent two-lane corridor equipped with advanced reinforced concrete (RCC) retaining walls.

Originally built with Japanese grant aid starting in 1996, the iconic 160-km highway was formally handed over to Nepal in July 2015.