Monsoon Safety Measures: BP Highway Closed to Vehicles 12 Hours Each Night in Shrawan

Kathmandu – In the Kavrepalanchok district, vehicular traffic on the BP Highway section between Kavrebhanjyang and the Sindhuli border at Nepalthok will be halted nightly for 12 hours, starting today and lasting one month.

The District Administration Office in Dhulikhel announced that, due to active monsoon conditions and the heightened risk of floods and landslides, traffic will be stopped daily from 5:00 PM to 5:00 AM to mitigate potential disasters. 

Chief District Officer Umesh Dhakal stated that vehicles departing Kathmandu will be turned back at Kavrebhanjyang, while those heading toward Kathmandu will be stopped at Nepalthok on the Sindhuli side. 

Earlier, an inter-district meeting of Kavrepalanchok, Sindhuli, and Ramechhap authorities had imposed a 10‑hour nightly ban from 6:30 PM to 5:00 AM, first for 15 days and later until the end of the Nepali month of Asar—all due to monsoon-related safety concerns. 

In the past week, landslides have blocked the highway four times within this Kavrepalanchok stretch. Last year’s monsoon had washed away eight kilometers of road between Chaukidanda (Kavrepalanchok) and Barkhekhola (Sindhuli), necessitating temporary detour routes. 

Out of the total 160 km of the BP Highway, 84 km suffered monsoon damage—34 km in Sindhuli’s Section 3 (Khurkot to Nepalthok) and 50 km in Kavrepalanchok’s Section 4 (Nepalthok to Dhulikhel). The Road Division Office in Bhaktapur is now preparing contracts to permanently rebuild the affected four sections. 

This route is a vital connector between eastern Nepal and Kathmandu, carrying thousands of vehicles daily