The bus park in Bhiman, Kamalamai Municipality-9, has not come into operation even two years after its construction was completed. Built at a cost of Rs 43.641m by the Bagmati Province government, the terminal is rapidly deteriorating due to neglect and lack of maintenance, locals say. Despite being fully constructed, the facility has never been used, and its structure is now crumbling and visibly worn.
The Bhiman Bus Park includes comprehensive infrastructure: parking for at least 100 vehicles, ticket counters, a waiting room, drinking water facilities, a flower garden, offices, employee quarters, restrooms for the disabled, a garage, service areas, solar lighting, separate toilets for men and women, and a Vishwakarma Baba temple. It is strategically located at the intersection of the Banepa-Sindhuli-Bardibas (BP) Highway and the Hetauda-Sindhuli-Gaighat (Madan Bhandari) Highway.
According to local resident Balram Ghimire, the double-lane terminal has not been handed over to the municipality, and is falling into disrepair as a result. Constructed through the Urban Development and Building Office, the bus park was inaugurated in Oct 2023 by then Bagmati Province Chief Minister Shalikram Jamkatel. Although it was scheduled to be handed over to Kamalamai Municipality on the same day, the absence of the mayor led to the handover being postponed. Since then, the municipality has refused to take ownership, citing incomplete procedures.
Durga Prasad Ghimire, chief of the Urban Development and Building Office, Sindhuli, said the handover letter was sent to the municipality two years ago, but it has yet to be accepted. “We wrote to the municipality asking them to take over and operate the bus park. However, they have neither responded nor initiated any operations,” he said. Ghimire added that the infrastructure is deteriorating because it hasn’t been used or maintained, and the contractor’s liability period for repairs has also expired.
Kamalamai Deputy Mayor Manju Devkota said the municipality will not take ownership until the damaged structures are fully repaired. “We had asked for all the damaged components to be restored, but they were never rebuilt after the inauguration and symbolic handover,” she said. Currently, the lights at the bus park are broken, windows and doors are unusable, and the roadbed has collapsed in several areas. The bus park was initiated to address traffic congestion and accidents caused by unorganized parking along the BP and Madan Bhandari highways. Construction began in fiscal year 2020/2021 under a contract awarded to Atreya Shree Krishna JV.
