A Benighat Aarughat road diversion has restored passage on a flood damaged section of the Benighat-Aarughat-Larke Bhanjyang road near Khorlabesi, after nine days of continuous work. Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal announced the completion on the evening of October 24, 2026, Nepal time, in an update on the road section that had been blocked after flooding on the Budhigandaki River.
What was completed on the Benighat Aarughat road diversion
The Benighat Aarughat road diversion is a temporary diversion of roughly 250 metres. It was built to carry traffic around the damaged stretch while the main road remains affected by the river flooding. Crews worked through the nine day period to form a passable route where the earlier road had been cut off, allowing movement to resume on a section that had left travellers and local residents without a through road.
Flooding on the Budhigandaki River had damaged the road and blocked the section. In a river valley setting, that kind of damage can close a route quickly, because water, debris and erosion can remove or weaken the road surface and its supporting ground. A temporary diversion does not replace the original road in full, but it gives people a usable way through while further work is planned and carried out.
What happens next: track to Dobhan
The next step set out in the minister’s update is a temporary track to Dobhan, with work progressing so that it can be finished the following day, October 25. That target is important because it would extend the reopened passage further along the route, rather than leaving the diversion as an isolated improvement.
Work is also progressing from Salleri toward Dobhan, with support from the Nepal Army, so that the blocked road can be opened from that side as well. Opening the route from both directions can help crews reach the remaining blocked stretch more effectively and can shorten the time before through movement is possible for people travelling in either direction.
Why the route matters
The route serves communities along the Budhigandaki valley and the onward route beyond it. For those communities, a road is not only a way to travel from one town to another. It is also the link used for daily movement, for supplies to reach local shops and households, and for access to services, work and markets in neighbouring areas.
When a section is blocked, local movement becomes harder, supplies can be delayed, and access to help and services can be interrupted. A temporary diversion therefore matters even before longer term restoration is complete, because it restores passage and reduces isolation while engineers and work crews continue the broader recovery effort. The recent progress at Aarughat is part of that wider effort to keep valley crossings open, as shown by the Aarughat Bailey Bridge Opens report and the later Aarughat Bailey Bridge Final Stage update.
Working in difficult conditions
The minister praised the Infrastructure Development Ministry technical team for working in fast river flow and risky conditions to reopen the road. River work of this kind demands close attention to changing water levels, unstable ground and the movement of heavy material, and the completion of the diversion after nine days reflects sustained effort in conditions that remained difficult throughout the work.
Further updates are expected as the Dobhan track and the Salleri side work progress. For now, the completed Benighat Aarughat road diversion marks a practical step forward for travellers and communities along this Budhigandaki valley route, with the focus shifting to the next section and to keeping the reopened passage usable.
Source: Minister Sunil Lamsal’s Facebook post, October 24, 2026, linked to https://www.facebook.com/reel/1652355760235993/