Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road blacktopping has begun in Gulmi, with work starting in the Purkotdaha to Arkhawang section soon after the Dashain holiday ended. The first stretch covers Purkotdaha bazaar, Myalpokhari bazaar and nearby areas, where a sealed surface will replace the dusty and uneven road that shoppers, traders and local residents use every day. The minister’s update, dated 27 October 2026 in Nepal time, places the start of work in the days right after Dashain, when people and businesses were returning to normal routines.
Why Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road blacktopping matters in bazaar areas
The Gulmi work uses Double Bituminous Surface Dressing, known as DBSD. In simple terms, this is a surface treatment in which layers of bitumen and stone chips are applied to form a sealed and durable road surface. For a bazaar section, that change matters more than it might on a quiet rural stretch. Bazaars carry constant foot traffic, shop deliveries, buses, small trucks and motorcycles, and an unsealed surface in such a place can quickly turn dusty in dry weather and muddy and rutted after rain. A sealed surface gives vehicles better grip, reduces loose dust around shops and homes, and makes daily travel more predictable for people who depend on the road for work, school, health care and trade.
A smoother bazaar road also helps local commerce in practical ways. Shopkeepers can receive goods with less damage and delay, farmers and traders can move produce to market more reliably, and public transport can keep closer to schedule. Over time, a well sealed surface can also reduce wear on vehicles and lower the need for frequent patching, although the long term benefit will depend on drainage, maintenance and the weight of traffic using the road. For residents of Purkotdaha and Myalpokhari, the immediate benefit is simpler to understand: a road that is easier and safer to walk, ride and drive on, in the heart of their daily activity.
The Dashain to Tihar window and the 7.3 km plan
Between Dashain and Tihar, about 7.3 km from Purkotdaha to Kallebhir is planned for blacktopping, and the needed construction materials have already been arranged. That timing is important. The period between the two festivals is a short and busy window, with many people travelling and many businesses reopening after Dashain. Setting a clear target for that window gives crews a measurable goal before Tihar travel increases, and having materials ready in advance reduces the risk of work stopping while supplies are sourced. It also allows the project to show visible progress in a section that local people use every day, rather than leaving the benefit to a later and less certain stage.
This update is distinct from the earlier Gulmi progress story on this site. That earlier report concerned a different stage of work, while this update concerns a different section and the new DBSD blacktopping stage in Purkotdaha to Arkhawang. Readers who want the earlier background can read the earlier Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road progress report for comparison, and should not treat the two reports as the same milestone.
Work beyond Gulmi
Work has also been sped up in Arghakhanchi on the Patouti-Maudan and Mate-Bhandar sections, and in Baglung on the Falleghar-Rudratal section. In Baglung, gravel work has been completed on 22 km from Burtibang to Falleghar, which is an important step before a section can move toward a sealed surface. Gravel preparation helps shape the road, improve drainage and provide a stable base, and completing that work over a long stretch suggests that later surfacing work in the area has a clearer foundation to build on.
The tender and contract process has also been completed for three further sections. They are Arghakhanchi Maidan to Balewang, Baglung Devisthan to Batasedanda toward Saljhandi, and the section from the Mid-Hill Highway to Laxmikunda toward Dhorpatan. Completing tender and contract work does not by itself mean that construction is finished, but it does remove a common administrative hurdle and allows the next stage of physical work to be organised. For a long corridor project, progress on paperwork and progress on the ground need to move together, and the minister’s update presents both kinds of progress at the same time.
A long corridor at 49 percent progress
The whole road runs 197.2 km from Saljhandi in Rupandehi to Dhorpatan in Baglung, connecting 5 districts and 10 local levels. The project started in fiscal year 2066/67, and overall physical progress is now 49 percent. That figure helps explain why the ministry is treating speed as a priority: after many years of work, about half of the physical work remains, and each completed section, whether it is blacktopping, gravel work or a newly contracted stretch, moves the corridor closer to a continuous and reliable route.
The ministry’s stated priority is to speed up work and complete the project. For people along the route, completion would mean a single improved corridor linking market towns, district centres and remote settlements, rather than a series of improved and unimproved sections. Until then, travellers should expect a mixed road, with newly sealed bazaar sections alongside sections that are still under construction or awaiting surfacing, and should allow extra time where work is active.
What happens next
The next test for Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road blacktopping will be whether the planned 7.3 km from Purkotdaha to Kallebhir is completed between Dashain and Tihar as planned. After that, attention will turn to the newly contracted sections and to the sections where work has been sped up in Arghakhanchi and Baglung. If those sections advance in sequence, the corridor should become easier to use section by section, even before the whole 197.2 km route is finished.
For residents, Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road blacktopping is not only a construction milestone. It is a change to the road they use for shopping, school runs, hospital visits and business, and its value will be judged by how well the surface holds up, how safely traffic moves through bazaar areas during construction, and how quickly the next sections follow. The minister’s post does not give a budget or a whole-project completion date, and this report does not invent either figure. Readers should therefore treat the Dashain to Tihar 7.3 km plan as the firm near term target in the update, and the ministry’s completion priority as its broader aim.
Source: Minister Sunil Lamsal’s Facebook post, 27 October 2026.