Pokhara-Tarai connection in Gandaki province: Beyond the Muglin bottleneck
Across South Asia, the concept of ‘expressway’ has shifted from a luxury to a logistical necessity. While these high-speed corridors require immense financial investment, the region has realized that the cost of slow connectivity is far higher. For a country like Nepal, geographical barriers have historically crippled the state’s ability to fulfill its core commitments. Whether it is the timely delivery of life-saving medicines, providing urgent healthcare to remote regions, or ensuring that educational materials reach students on schedule, the lack of reliable connectivity remains our greatest hurdle.
Currently, Nepal’s primary economic and tourism centers remain isolated, often marooned at least five hours away from the rest of the country by road. This distance is compounded by a fragile geography that suffers from frequent landslides and road blockages. In this landscape of uncertainty, the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track has emerged as a symbol of hope. However, this 72.5 km project primarily serves to link the capital with the eastern parts of the country. This raises a critical question: what about the western region and our premier tourist hub, Pokhara? The time has come to envision an alternative connectivity model that brings the Western Tarai closer to both Pokhara and Kathmandu.
At the heart of our current struggle is the ‘Muglin Bottleneck’. The stretch between Narayangarh and Muglin has become a national pain point, plagued by geological instability and constant traffic congestion. To move forward, we cannot simply repair the old; we must build the new. Just as the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway is set to redefine eastern travel, a similar vision is required to unlock the potential of the west.
The Kawasoti–Shuklagandaki expressway alternative
Gandaki Province is establishing itself as an economic, tourism, and cultural hub of Nepal. Extending from the Tibetan border in the north to Narayani River and Nawalpur in the south, this region is a vital ecological and cultural center. Its importance is growing in terms of economy, academic research, agriculture production, and tourism. Historically, this area was among the first to have a dense road network, including the Siddhartha Highway (linking Pokhara to Butwal) and the Prithvi Highway (linking Pokhara to Kathmandu).
However, in the current context of increased traffic and changes in mode of travel, people are constantly seeking alternatives and expressing dissatisfaction with the conventional mode of travel, which is time consuming and often lacking in adequate safety standards.
Various options are being discussed to make the road network from Pokhara to Jomsom, Muktinath, and the Korala border easier and safer. Some projects are already underway. Upgrading work on the Siddhartha Highway is gaining momentum, and the Kaligandaki Corridor project is progressing in stages from Gaidakot to Beni. Despite all this, there has been no fundamental change in Pokhara’s road connectivity with the eastern and western Tarai.
Decades of upgrades have failed to break the cycle of long travel times, safety risks, and travel uncertainty. In light of the constant travel disruptions on the Narayangarh–Muglin stretch due to geological reasons, there has been policy-level discussion about an alternative road west of the Trishuli River. According to sources, the Asian Development Bank has already conducted a preliminary study of the alternative project.
But is this the right choice for Pokhara and Gandaki Province? This needs reconsideration. The purported project is environmentally and geographically challenging, and it doesn’t significantly change the distance or travel time. While it would help local connectivity, it would merely serve as an alternative to the road running east of Trishuli. Similarly, while the Kaligandaki Corridor has strategic and local economic importance, there are doubts about whether it brings the majority of the people within its range and takes the connectivity of the province to a new level.
Because of these factors, despite having many road options, Gandaki Province and the Greater Pokhara Valley remain distant from much of the country’s population and geography. This directly impacts agricultural and industrial productivity, market expansion, and social leadership. Given this reality, it is necessary to propose a direct Expressway from Kawasoti (Nawalpur) on the East-West Highway to Shuklagandaki (Khairenitar or Tharpu) in Tanahun. This expressway would easily connect Nepal’s western Tarai with Pokhara. Just as the Nijgadh–Kathmandu Expressway will link the eastern Tarai to the capital, this project would provide a fast alternative for the western Tarai to reach Pokhara and Kathmandu.
The 40-kilometer revolution
Currently, the distance from Kawasoti to Shuklagandaki via Narayangarh is over 100 km. This expressway could reduce that distance to just 35–40 km, offering massive savings in time and safety. Traveling by public transport from Narayangarh (the hub of Chitwan) to Prithvi Chowk (the hub of Pokhara) takes 5–6 hours. An expressway could reduce this to 1–1.5 hours offering massive savings in time and safety. This project has the potential to transform these two cities into a single large socio-economic unit. Beyond creating thousands of jobs during construction, it would bring a qualitative shift in industry, market expansion, healthcare, education, and the Chitwan–Pokhara tourism circuit.
In terms of technical expertise and financial investment, this would undoubtedly be the most ambitious undertaking in the history of Gandaki Province. Engineering experts suggest that a straight-line connection between Kawasoti and Shuklagandaki would require a 10–12 km tunnel piercing through the Chure hills of the Devchuli region and the Kaligandaki valley, complemented by major bridges over the Kaligandaki and Seti rivers. While the scale is vast, this project would not necessarily require the same high-tech specifications as the Kathmandu–Tarai Fast Track.
That project, currently managed by the Nepali Army using Chinese technology, is estimated to cost roughly $22m per km. Based on a 40 km length, the Kawasoti–Shuklagandaki Expressway could theoretically reach a cost of $880m (over Rs 120bn), roughly 28 percent of Nepal’s annual development budget. However, experts believe the cost could be minimized by 50 percent or even more, bringing the total to approximately twice the construction cost of Pokhara International Airport (PIA).
Within this optimized price range, financing becomes a realistic goal. Resources could be mobilized through a partnership between the provincial and federal governments, domestic financial institutions, international donors like the ADB, and local investors. Such a project is well within the affordable reach of Gandaki Province, especially if a “public-participation model” is adopted to involve the province’s own citizens as shareholders. Nevertheless, given the technical complexities involved, partnering with reliable investors and construction firms with proven global experience remains essential.
Financing the vision
History shows us that the Siddhartha Highway was once the revolutionary link that connected the Gandaki hills to the world. But today, the demographics, tourism demands, and trade patterns of Pokhara have fundamentally changed. To transform the valley into a modern, accessible, and safe urban hub, we must embrace new visions. PIA was a part of that vision to connect with the ’outer world’. We did not meet the vision as we had expected. But we must not stop dreaming. We need even more connectivity with the ‘inner world’, the other parts of the country.
Therefore, it is imperative that the provincial and federal governments move beyond traditional alternatives and initiate a feasibility study of this Expressway immediately. If Gandaki is to truly evolve into Nepal’s premier economic and tourism hub, we must stop thinking in terms of mere ‘road upgrades’ and start thinking in terms of strategic, high-speed connectivity. This expressway is the key to making Pokhara a more reliable and vibrant city. Building the Kawasoti–Shuklagandaki Expressway could be a visionary step that would ignite economic growth for both the province and the nation.
The author is a PhD in Anthropology and a Public Intellectual from Pokhara
