It would not be an exaggeration to say that the concept of the then regional development failed partly due to the lack of the Mid Hill Highway.
To avail the services of regional headquarters of Dhankuta, the service seekers of Taplejung had to take a long route via Jhapa-Itahari before arriving in Dhankuta. Similarly, people of Darchula were forced to take the Indian route Dharchula-Pithauragadh-Banbasa before arriving Dipalyal via Attariya to avail the regional services.
Instead of traveling for hundreds of kilometers to reach Dhankuta, the people of Mechi Zone went to the Indian territory, Siligudhi, via Jhapa, where they could enjoy far better services. Similarly, the locals of Darchula did not bother reaching Dipayal when all the services were available at Pithauragadh.
Given this fact, the nation abandoned the regional concept especially after 2047 BS, and adopted ‘the National Transport Policy, 2058.’
Further, the necessity of Mid Hill Highway gained prominence in the aftermath of the Terai-centric movement that weakened the connectivity between the hilly districts and the capital city of Kathmandu. The government decided to proceed with the project after the People’s Movement of 2062/63 that resulted in the federal democratic republic political setup in the country.
Now, the Mid Hill Highway has received recognition as a national pride project and around 70 percent of the construction work has been completed. Even though it was estimated to be completed in the Fiscal Year 2074/75 BS at the cost of 33 billion rupees, it is likely to take five more years to complete and its cost might reach 133 billion rupees.
Apart from the 6 km rock excavation work in Jajarkot, the construction of Bheri Bridge, road demarcation in Kaski and Gorkha and Dhading (Budhigandaki Project Area), many works have been completed.
Against this backdrop, this article aims to analyze the three aspects of the Mid Hill Highway.
First, what are its drawbacks and weaknesses?
Second, how to capitalize on the road sections already constructed which now cannot be improved.
Third, the possibility of developing it into an economic corridor
The delineation of the national pride project in the eastern region is meandering. The length of the Jorsal-Sakranti-Myanglung is 102 km. If Jorsal were connected directly with Myanglung, the length of the road could be halved.
Similarly, if the starting point of this road were Pashupatinagar instead of Chiwabhanjayang, the length of the road would come down about to120 km from 249 km. As Pashupatinagar is a trading point between Nepal and the Indian territory Darjeeling, if the road were directly connected from there, the economic transactions of central Nepal could be linked with the economy of West Bengal. It would have a positive impact on Nepal's agricultural, industrial, and tourism businesses.
The biggest politics took place in the delineation of the Khurkot-Pokhara section. The decision to delineate the route to Pokhara via Bohora Dobhan-Panchkhal-Trishuli-Palungtar instead of directly from Khurkot to Kathmandu has increased the length by 40 km. Besides, the Budhigandaki Project Area falls in this region.
A question arises as to why this was done. In other words, money went down the drain on the 350 km road from Khurkot to Pokhara, bleeding state coffer. Fewer than 100 vehicles per day will ply this stretch even in the next few years. It is natural to be curious as to why the Mid Hill Highway passed from Rukumkot to Musikot instead of stretching along the banks of the Lukum River. Why the strategy to bypass Kathmandu did not apply to Musikot and Dailekh? There is a possibility of going to the Indian border Rupal from Syaule in Sudurpaschim.
The analysis above indicates that this road is not only unnecessarily long, but also 350 km road from Nepalthok to Pokhara is less likely to be operational, incurring a loss of an additional expenditure of about 20 billion and an annual maintenance of millions of rupees.
The demarcation of the Mid Hill Highway is, of course, mistaken. This strategic highway should be as straight as possible but the decision makers took it as a rural access highway. It is appropriate to move it from the origin point Chiwabhanjyang to Pashupatinagar in the east and directly connect Kathmandu via Nepalthok-Hile.
It could be the shortest route to Galkot from Dulegauda (before reaching Pokhara from Kathmandu), which passes through Kusmisera Karkineta and Badhkhola of Syangja. However, for this, a tunnel has to be built in the mountain range west of Kusmisera.
The next delineation of the highway could be from Rukumkot to Chaurjahari along the banks of Lukum Khola and the eastern bank of the Sani Bheri River. There are some options in Dailekh where the length of the Mid Hill Highway can be shortened. After reaching Dadeldhura, the highway can be directly connected with Rupal in Sudurpaschim bordering India, instead of going to Jhulalghat.
At the moment, as the work has progressed a lot and there is little fiscal space in Nepal's budget, it does not seem possible to make this change immediately. Hence, our focus should be to capitalize on the work done already and yield maximum benefits for the country and the people. To reduce the length of the Mid Hill Highway in alignment with the suggestions mentioned above, the government should acquire the lands for the construction of roads.
It would be appropriate to develop the areas as special economic zones which lie between two parallel corridors stretching from north to south. The area stretching from Pashupatinagar-Chiwabhanjyang to Hile can be developed as a special economic zone. Similarly, Khurkot to Pokhara, Dulegaunda to Galkot, Chaurjahari-Saigaun to Surkhet, and Dadeldhura to Rupal-Jhulalghat can be developed as special economic zones.
As the confluence points of the North-South Highway and the Mid Hill Highway are also located in the five areas mentioned above, there is no doubt that the potential of the economic sector will increase further. The Mechi Highway passes through Ilam, Phidim, while the Koshi Highway intersects with the Mid Hill Highway at Hille-Leguwaghat. There may be a possibility of an economic zone around Ghurmi-Lekhani, the meeting point of Sagarmatha Highway and Mid Hill Highway.
The confluence of Bhittamod-Janakpur Lamabagar Road and Mid Hill Highway meet at Khurkot, the road connecting to Rasuwagadhi, the border of China, passes through Kathmandu, so Khurkot-Pokhara falls within the perimeter of the economic zone. The Kaligandaki Highway (which begins from Bhairahawa) and the Mid Hill Highway meet at Kusma and Baglung, which fall within the Dulegauda-Galkot Economic Zone. Karnali Highway and the Mid Hill Highway meet at Lower Dhungeshwar and Saigaun, which fall within the Chaurjahari-Saigaun-Surkhet Economic Zone. The Dhangadhi-Dadeldhura-Darchula route meets the Mid Hill Highway at Syaule, which falls under the Syaule-Rupal-Jhulaghat Economic Zone.
What is the economic zone?
Economic corridors are the integrated networks of infrastructures within a defined geographical area that stimulate economic development. It also arranges the supply chain of the products to be produced. In Nepal, it has been partially used in SAARC Corridors, North-South and East-West Economic Corridors.
Under this economic zone, not only roads but also various other schemes have been included. Such as special investment zones, industrial zones, integrated industrial cities, integrated multi-modal logistics hubs, multi-modal transport hubs, ports, etc.
There is a possibility of generating more than 2000 megawatts of hydropower within every 15 km of the Mid Hill Highway. Some of those power projects have already been completed. If the productions of vegetables, fruits, fish, and animals are prioritized in the beginning, local skills will be used and the market will not be a problem.
To do all this, the government has to acquire the land of the economic sector. Since our province governments are not able to stand on their own, the central governments have to acquire the lands to build infrastructures and arrange investments. Land-pooling could be a better option than acquisition.
The mobilization of private sector capital for all these works is very important. Since Nepal is a small country between the world's second and fifth economies, it is better to create an environment for India and China to invest in Nepal than other multinational companies. The implementation of the economic corridor will be very challenging as well as very fruitful if implemented. A government with strong willpower is needed to implement these types of projects.
If this economic corridor becomes a reality, the demographic pressure of Terai will be eased and transformed into a manageable size. It will lower the current trend of Nepali people going abroad, creating an environment where people will come back from abroad as well. When the economy of Nepal is directly connected with the economy of 100 billion US dollars of West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim, synergy will be created, thereby benefiting all.
When the length of the Mid Hill Highway is shortened, it will be convenient to come to Kathmandu from Taplejung and Darchula without going down to the Terai.
There is no doubt that Mid Hill Highway is a milestone for the overall development of Nepal. But due to the vote politics of the decision makers, the desire to connect all the headquarters, and partly due to ignorance, this road has been unnecessarily lengthened, squandering the state coffer. By gradually correcting the course and straightening the alignment from east to west, this highway will start from Pashupatinagar and will end at Rupal via Hille-Kathmandu-Dulegauda-Galkot-Dadeldhura. By doing this, there is a possibility that the length of the Mid-Hill Highway can be reduced by about 300 km (the length of the Mid Hill Highway is 1776km). If the economic corridor proposal is implemented, it will make a significant contribution to Nepal's economy. But for this, there must be a stable and bold government in the center and the province.
(Dr Shrestha was an executive member of the then National Reconstruction Authority)
