An all-weather road connecting Sanphebagar of Achham district with Martadi of Bajura district is on the verge of completion after more than two decades since the foundation stone was laid. Currently, workers are blacktopping the 8km segment of the 58km Sanphe-Martadi road. 

According to the project office, the 8km stretch will be completely blacktopped within a month. Although the road was opened around two years ago, vehicles could not ply on it during monsoon as it was prone to blockades due to landslides. But once the blacktopping work is complete, locals of the region could see vehicular movement throughout the year. Achham and Bajura are remote districts of the country, while Bajura is also the district with lowest human development index in Nepal.

The contractor hired to build the road has completed preparations to blacktop the 8km section. 

“We had blacktopped 20km stretch from Barjugadh to Rapka before last monsoon,” said Prem Thapa, project site in-charge of the construction company.  The contractor has already completed building retention walls, concreting and culvert construction, among others. “We will complete the remaining work within a month,” said Thapa.  

The contractor is planning to blacktop the road soon after the mercury level rises. “We can’t blacktop the road when the temperature is low. We will begin the work after a couple of weeks,” said Pushpa Raj Bhatta, chief engineer of the project. 

Currently, two bridges are also being built over Gugad and Budhi Ganga rivers to facilitate movement of vehicles on the Sanphe-Martadi road. The bridge construction work is in the final stage. 

Locals of both Achham and Bajura districts are jubilant with the recent development, as they no longer have to go through tedious journey on foot once vehicles start moving on the road round the year.

Earlier the 58km road section from Achham’s Sanphe to Bajura’s Martadi was said to be very risky due to incidents of landslide during monsoon. Around 19 km of the road section lies in Achham while around 38 km lies in Bajura. PS Construction of India was hired by the Department of Road in May 2014 for construction of the road being built under the assistance of the Indian government. 

The contract worth Rs665.3 million was awarded to the Indian contractor to build 58-km-long and 7-metre-wide highway. Although the road project was supposed to be completed by July 2017 as per the contract, earthquakes of 2015 and trade embargo imposed by India pushed back the completion deadline.