NEPAL: REMOTE AND CHALLENGING

This article describes Nepal's road infrastructure, and explains how it is organised to implement new building and maintenance plans. Nepal is a mountainous country, about 900km long and 200km wide. The Department of Roads (DoR), working under the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT), is the leading agency for road development. It is responsible for planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining Nepal's strategic road network. The five main types of roads in Nepal are National Highways (NH), Feeder Roads (FR), District Roads (DR), Urban Roads (UR), and Village Roads (VR). The DoR recently introduced the concept of a Strategic Road Network (SRN), including all NHs and FRs, and roads linking places of historic, cultural, or economic importance. There are also official networks for DRs, URs, and VRs. The East-West Highway (EWH) is Nepal's national arterial road, linking all parts of southern Nepal, and having two spurs to the capital, Kathmandu. The 9th National Plan proposes the development of over 6000km of roads in different districts, and there is a development strategy for 1998-2007. Road construction and maintenance are funded by the Ministry of Finance, but some private investment is sought. A fuller version of the article is available, including a list of planned projects and useful contacts.