SINDHULI, June 4: Locals have expressed concerns over the government's recent decision to permit heavy vehicles on the BP Highway. They are worried about the future of the road after the government allowed heavy vehicles to operate on the road.
There has been a sudden rise in the number of heavy vehicles in the winding Sindhuli-Khurkot section of the BP Highway after the government allowed heavy vehicles to operate on the highway. After heavy vehicles were allowed on the highway, passenger carriers with up to 32 seats have started plying the road from 9 PM to 5 AM as per a schedule prepared by the Department of Transport Management. Locals have been enraged by the government's decision to allow vehicles heavier than 10.2 tons to operate on the road.
“The permission to run heavy vehicles without a prior investigation about the capacity of the road is a wrong decision from the government,” Der Bahadur Tamang, a local said, “The highway cannot withstand this many vehicles with that much weight.”
Heavy vehicles on BP Highway mar road safety: Stakeholders
Tamang is dissatisfied with the decision of the government to allow heavy vehicles on the Highway. He expressed his concerns about the possible damage to the highway after heavy vehicles were allowed to operate on it. He added, “As a result of the earthquake of 2015, the road was slightly damaged but was repaired with simple efforts. Now, the road will be heavily damaged by the decision.”
The highway which was damaged by heavy vehicles such as excavators used for the construction of buildings along the highway has become more prone to damage after the permission to operate heavy vehicles on it.
Much of the Dhulikhel-Nepalthok section of the road has been damaged by the haphazard driving
of tipper trucks on the winding road.
Locals are dissatisfied with Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth's decision to allow heavy vehicles to operate on the road.
Locals have also expressed concerns over the rise in the number of accidents that may be caused by the decision to run cargo trucks in night time. They feel that the BP highway is not suitable for night time operation. “The highway is in no condition to facilitate heavy vehicles; on top of that, they are going to run in night. The number of accidents will rise for sure,” a bus owner in Khurkot, Appu Shrestha said.
