KATHMANDU, Jan 28: The Government of Japan has officially handed over the BP Highway to Nepal after completing the reconstruction of the road segment which was damaged by the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.

Through a virtual program organized at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Japan handed over the rebuilt infrastructure to the Government of Nepal. Japan has completed the reconstruction work in around 18 months from the date of commencement.

BP Highway offers one of the shortest land routes connecting the capital to eastern Nepal. Japan started work for construction of the 160 km long road stretch in 1996 and completed it in March 2015. The highway was badly damaged at five locations of the stretch in just two months after it was handed over to the Nepali authorities.

In a remote inauguration program of the rebuilt highway on Thursday, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Basant Kumar Nemwang, said since long Japan has been providing its value assistance to Nepal mainly in the areas like sanitation, education, peace establishment and agriculture, among others.

Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Masamichi Saigo said both the countries have been in a friendly relationship. He added that Japan will be supporting Nepal in achieving development goals.

After the earthquake damaged the highway, Japanese contractor Hazama Ando Corporation started the reconstruction work on July 3, 2019. The contractor had used almost all construction materials and related technical equipment imported from Japan.