The country’s first tunnel project, the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola Tunnel, has faced yet another delay despite being extended for the third time. Construction was stalled for nearly a month due to local obstruction, and officials say the project can only be completed on time if the contractor significantly accelerates the pace of work. Tunnel construction resumed recently, despite ongoing protests.
Work had been halted on 17 March 2025, due to local resistance and was resumed 26 days later under police protection, according to Senior Divisional Engineer Sanjay Panthi. “Construction resumed in the presence of the Armed Police Force and District Police, but locals are still shouting slogans and staging demonstrations,” Panthi said. Given the month-long halt, it is now uncertain whether the project can be completed by the latest deadline of 23 Oct 2025. Panthi said that the delay might push the timeline back by another month, and the contractor may request an extension accordingly.
Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed by 26 April 2023. It was first delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and local obstructions, pushing the deadline to 27 April 2024. A second extension brought it to the current Oct 2025 target. Panthi noted that local residents have made multiple demands, including compensation for houses above the tunnel, free drinking water until the project’s completion, post-project employment, and fair land compensation. “We have already addressed the compensation issue and other legitimate demands, but new demands keep emerging. That’s why we had to resume work with police assistance,” he said.
The tunnel project was launched to ease traffic congestion on the heavily jammed Naubise-Kathmandu section of the Tribhuvan Highway. It includes a 2,688-meter main tunnel stretching from Sisnekhola in Nagdhunga Bhanjyang to Chandragiri Municipality-3 in Kathmandu district, along with 565 meters of western access road and 2,307 meters to the east. The foundation stone was laid by then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on 21 Oct 2019, following an agreement signed on 23 Sept 2019, between the Roads Department and Japan’s Hazama-Ando JV.
The Rs 22bn project is being executed by Hazama-Ando JV and is funded through a Rs 16.8bn loan from Japan’s JICA. The rescue tunnel has already been completed. As part of the project, a 2.3 km paved road will be built from Tribhuvan Highway in Thankot to Basnet Chap, and another 565 meters from Sisnekhola in Dhunibesi toward Dhading. The main tunnel, stretching from Dahachowk to Sisnekhola, will be 2.688 kilometers long, 9.5 meters wide, and 18 meters high. Once operational, it will reduce the travel time between Thankot and Sisnekhola to just three minutes, saving at least 30 minutes of the usual journey and shortening the route by eight kilometers. It will make it possible to reach Naubise from Thankot in just 10 minutes.
Engineer Panthi stated that the project is now 88 percent complete, six years after construction began. Following flood damage to the Naubise road last September, traffic had to be rerouted through the partially completed tunnel.
