The long-awaited Nagdhunga Tunnel achieved a significant breakthrough on Monday, as the main tunnel, stretching 2,688 meters, was successfully excavated.
Nepal’s first road tunnel construction project, achieved its final breakthrough on Monday with the detonation of explosives to clear the final two-meter stretch of the main tunnel. The passageway is expected to open to the public in approximately a year.
During an event commemorating the occasion, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ hailed the tunnel’s completion as a significant infrastructural milestone for Nepal, facilitating national development goals and road expansion initiatives.
PM Prachanda expressed confidence that the tunnel would mitigate traffic congestion, reduce road accidents, and provide a solution to natural disasters like landslides during the monsoon season.
Kikuta Yutaka, the Japanese ambassador to Nepal, commended the collaborative efforts of Japanese and Nepali parties involved, emphasizing their perseverance in overcoming various challenges. “You are the pride of the country,” he remarked.
Valued at Rs 22 billion, the Nagdhunga Tunnel represents Nepal’s inaugural mountainous traffic road tunnel. Japan has contributed three-quarters of the funding through highly concessional loans, with Japanese engineering firms overseeing construction. Upon completion of remaining interior works, such as lining and equipment connection, the tunnel is poised to alleviate traffic congestion significantly and stimulate local economic development.
Initiated in 2019, the project encountered substantial obstacles, including rugged terrain, floods, tunnel collapses, heavy rainfall-induced landslides, and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, collaborative efforts between Japanese and Nepali teams addressed technical challenges, drawing from their experience on the Sindhuli road project, supported by Japan.
Moreover, the project facilitated the transfer of advanced Japanese construction skills to young Nepali engineers, promising long-term benefits for Nepal’s infrastructure development. The Embassy of Japan emphasized the tunnel’s pivotal role in Nepal’s sustainable economic growth and in strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Nepal.
Spanning between Dhading and Nagdhunga in Kathmandu, the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola tunnel offers commuters on the Nagdhunga-Naubise route an alternative to navigating 19 hairpin bends and sharp curves along an 8 km section of roadway. With a preparatory survey indicating a travel time of around 34 minutes along the existing route, the tunnel promises improved efficiency and safety for travelers.
In 2016, the Japanese government committed a soft loan of Rs 15.28 billion for the tunnel’s construction, aiming to eliminate the need for the circuitous route over the Valley’s western rim, a vital overland link between the Capital and the southern plains. Constructed by the Japanese company Hazama-Ando Corporation, the 2.68-kilometer-long tunnel offers motorists a direct path under the Kathmandu Valley’s western rim, bypassing hazardous hills prone to landslides.
