Mr. Bhubneshwar Prasad Deo
3. Road Development in Nepal
3.1 Current Strategic Road Network
By the end of the fiscal year of 2009-2010, the National Highway (no. 21) had a total length of 3392km, Major Feeder Road no.
196 and Feeder Road Major (FRN) 5538km, and Minor Feeder Road no. 31 (FRO) 578km. At the end of 2009, the total road length constructed in the Mid-Hill Road was 734km, and in Postal Road 592 km. These roads are currently under cons- truction.
Here, the concern is the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in Nepal. The length of the SRN is 10,835km, with a type of blacktop- ped road surface of 4952km, graveled road surface 2065km, and earthen road
surface 3818km .
The acutely insufficient road networks have constrained Nepal’s economic growth.
It, among others, has blocked not only industrial productivity but also agricultural production. Most domestic products do not get marketed because of the transporta- tion barriers and huge possibilities of hydro- power production being bottlenecked.
Due to budget deficit, roads are not constructed enough as required as well as the upgrading of road (from earthen to gravel road and/or from gravel to pitch road surface).
There is an adopted stage construction of road due to maximum utilization of the budget and environmental stabilization.
The DOR has published the Feeder Road Standard for stage construction of the road.
Due to the changes in the road network in Nepal from year 1998 (9th 5-year plan), total length of the SRN was 4740km, which increased to 10835 km in 2009. The length increased more than double in a decade.
VII_Strategy on the Development of Nepal’s Strategic Road Network
105
SN Year Description Total Road Length
(km)
Influenced Population (no. per km)
Road Density (km per 100km2)
1 1951 Year of D em ocracy 376 21,250 0.30
2 1956 1st (5-year) Plan 624 13,609 0.40
3 1962 2nd (5-year) Plan 1,193 7,970 0.80
4 1965 3rd (5-year) Plan 2,049 5,130 1.40
5 1970 4th (5-year) Plan 2,504 4,600 1.70
6 1975 5th (5-year) Plan 3,173 3,800 2.20
7 1980 6th (5-year) Plan 4,940 2,844 3.40
8 1985 7th (5-year) Plan 5,925 2,840 4.00
9 1990 7,330 2,579 5.00
10 1991 8th (5-year) Plan (2047 B S) 8,328 2,217 5.70
11 1993 9,534 1,939 6.50
12 1995 10,724 1,741* 7.30
13 1998 9th (5-year) Plan (2054 B S) 13,223 1,398* 9.00
14 2000 15,905 11,637* 10.80
15 2002 10th (5-year) (2058 B S) 16,834 1,375** 11.40
16 2004 17,280 1,340** 11.70
17 2007 18,828 1,230** 12.79
18 2010 20,263 1,143** 13.77
Table 5_Developm ent of Road in Nepal (with Influenced population and density) (1951-2009/10)
* = 1991 Population Census
** = 2001 Population Census
Source: Government of Nepal, Department of Roads, 2009
NH FRN FRO MH PR Sub-total DR UR Sub-total Grand Total
3,391.81 5,538.27 578.33 734.40 592.20 10,835.01 6,955.46 2,473.17 9,428.63 20,263.64
Table 6_Length with the Category of Road (Road Length in km )
Source: Government of Nepal, Department of Roads, 2009
District Roads (DR) and Urban Roads (UR) have not been mentioned in the above road data because they are not under the SRN.
East−West Highways
There are three highways in the east-west direction in the country. The Mahendra highway is under the operational stage;
on the other hand the Hulaki Highway and
Nepal
106
Figure 3_Recent Planned Highways in Nepal
Source: Government of Nepal, Department of Roads, 2009
Mid-Hill Highways have been planned and are under the construction stage
The map shows the east−west (3) and north−south (8) planned connectors to the neighboring countries (India and China) through Nepal, in a matrix of 3×8 road network.
North−South Highways
There are highways connecting the India border in the Terai area (south) with the high hills (north) area. Among these, some are connected with regional headquarters, zonal headquarters and district headquart- ers. Some are currently under construction.
The government has planned eight north- south highways connecting the China bor- der at possible eight passes across High Mountain. The Arniko Highway is under operation which connects China with Kath-
m andu. The route B i g a n j − J i t p u r − P a t h − a l a i y a − F a s t
t r a c k − K a t h m a n d u − D o l a l g h a t − K o d a r i (Miteri Bridge), which is 292km long, is the shortest route connecting India and China.
After the construction of the
Kath-mandu−Terai Fast Track, with a road leng- th of 95km , it is estimated to have four hours of travel tim e. It has a high potential of developing the trade and transit activities between China and India.
Feeder Roads
There are Major Feeder Roads and Minor Feeder Roads connecting the National Highway to District/Zonal Headquarters (DHQs), which is the location of hydro- power stations and a place of interest of tourism . There are 198 feeder roads in Nepal. Up to year 2011, 71 DHQs have been connected with the SRN, besides four DHQs. Roads are under construction to connect the DHQs, namely Manang, Dol- pa, Hum la, and Mugu.
3.2 Asian Highways in Nepal
There are two Asian highways passing through Nepal (i.e., Asian Highway (AH) 42 (two lanes paved)): India’s border−Birganj
−Kathmandu−Kodari (China’s border)−connecting Lhasa (Tibet, China).
Now the Kathm andu-Terai Fast Track, which is planned to be a part of the Asian Highway, is under construction. Thus, the total leng- th of the road AH 42 in Nepal will be 292km.
The AH 2 is overlapped with the existing east–west highway (namely Mahendra Raj Marg) in Nepal. The length of the road is 1027km and is a double-lane paved road.
VII_Strategy on the Development of Nepal’s Strategic Road Network
107 Classification
of Roads Definition Implementing Agency Minimum Right of Way
N ational H ighw ays
(SR N )
N ational H ighw ays are the m ain highw ays connecting the east and w est and the north and south of the nation.
The R oads connecting the N ational Highw ays to the Regional Headquarters shall also be classified as N ational H ighw ays.
Departm ent of Roads, M inistry of Physical Planning and W orks
50m (betw een building lines 62m )
Feeder R oads
(SR N )
Feeder roads are im portant roads of localized nature. These serve the com m unity's w ide interest and connect the D istrict H eadquarters and/or Zonal Headquarters to the National Highw ays.
Departm ent of Roads, M inistry of Physical Planning and W orks
30m (betw een building lines 42m )
D istrict Roads and Village R oads
This class of roads consist of all roads not defined as N ational H ighw ays or Feeder and City Roads, serving prim arily by providing access to abutting land that carries little or no through m ovem ent.
These roads should give access to one or m ore villages to the nearest m arket or to higher types of roads.
Village/ D istrict D evelopm ent C om m ittee, M inistry of Local Developm ent
For district roads shall be 20m (betw een building lines 32m )
U rban R oads
These include roads w ithin the urban lim its except for the above classes, passing through the city. These provide access to abutting residential, business, or industrial properties.
M unicipality/D istrict D evelopm ent C om m ittee, M inistry of Local Developm ent
Table 7_Road Classification and Im plem enting Agencies in Nepal
Source: Government of Nepal, Department of Roads, 2007