Good news for travelers on Nepal’s East-West Highway: the Narayangadh-Butwal road travel time has dropped dramatically, with some drivers now completing the journey in just 1 hour 30 minutes — a trip that once took as long as 12 hours during the peak of construction chaos. After nearly seven years of dust, delays, and dangerous jams, the newly upgraded corridor is finally delivering the smooth ride commuters were promised.

A Road That Once Tested Everyone’s Patience

For nearly seven years, the Narayangadh-Butwal stretch was notorious among Nepali travelers. Monsoon rains and festival-season traffic regularly turned the route into a nightmare, with some commuters forced to spend entire nights stranded on the road. Local gas entrepreneur Bimal Kalakheti recalled making the same journey in just 1 hour 30 minutes last week — a stark contrast to the past.

Prakash Acharya, an entrepreneur from Tilottama Municipality-4 in Rupandehi, said he reached home from Narayangadh in just 1 hour 50 minutes with his family. “Traveling by private vehicle with family, we arrived remarkably fast. The road has made us forget all our past struggles,” he said. Acharya remembered a particularly grueling trip in earlier years when he left Narayangadh at 6 PM and did not reach home until 10 AM the next morning, after getting stuck for hours in the Daunne jam.

Journalist Recalls 12-Hour Ordeal, Now Just 2 Hours

Journalist Prakash Gyawali, who traveled from Butwal to Narayangadh on Wednesday in just two hours, said the same route once took him more than 12 hours to cross. He recalled a Dashain festival trip from Bharatpur to Sainamaina in Rupandehi to visit his parents, which took a full 12 hours on the road.

“We endured nearly seven years of painful travel on this road. Yesterday, I reached Narayangadh from Butwal in just two hours,” Gyawali said. A government employee from Bharatpur reported reaching Butwal’s Chauraha Chowk from Narayangadh in just 1 hour 44 minutes in his private car — even after two bathroom breaks along the way.

Why the Road Was So Difficult Before

Before the upgrade, breakdowns on this corridor forced many passengers to take long detours. Some travelers used the Butwal-Palpa route via Pokhara, while others relied on the Kaligandaki Corridor to reach Chitwan. Some even flew from Bhairahawa to Kathmandu and back to Chitwan just to avoid the road entirely.

Bhuwan Baral, chairman of Chautari Yatayat Sewa Pvt. Ltd., said vehicles that once got stuck in overnight jams now complete the journey in about three hours, even while picking up and dropping off passengers along the way. “In the past, daily wear-and-tear repairs were unavoidable when operating vehicles on this stretch. Now there’s no such problem,” Baral said.

Project Nearing Completion: 92% Physical Progress

According to Shiva Khanal, Information Officer for the eastern section of the Narayangadh-Butwal Road Project, physical progress across both sections has reached around 92 percent, with only road safety works and drainage connections remaining in a few locations. Recent reports confirm that crews are already carrying out lane markings, divider painting, and installation of cement barriers, roadside railings, and delineator poles in the completed sections of the highway.

Narayangadh-Butwal road Project Details: Cost, Contractor, and Funding

The 113.35-kilometer Narayangadh-Butwal road links Chitwan to Rupandehi and is one of Nepal’s most strategically important highway corridors. The project is divided into two sections — a 65-km eastern section (Narayangadh-Daunne) and a 49-km western section (Daunne-Butwal) — both awarded to the same Chinese contractor.

The upgrade has been carried out at a cost of approximately Rs 16.99 billion, with 85 percent of the funding coming as a concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at 1.5 percent interest, and the remaining 15 percent contributed by the Government of Nepal  Construction is being carried out by China State Construction Corporation, with the project designed to provide six lanes in settlement areas, four lanes through forested stretches, and three lanes in the mountainous Daunne section

Work on the project formally began in March 2019, with an original 42-month completion target that has since been extended multiple times due to challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, contractor delays, and difficult terrain in the Daunne hill section.

What This Means for East-West Highway Travelers

The Narayangadh-Butwal corridor is a critical link on Nepal’s East-West Highway, connecting central Nepal to the western Terai region. With physical progress now above 90 percent, commuters, transport operators, and businesses across Chitwan, Nawalparasi, and Rupandehi are already reporting major time and cost savings. Once the remaining safety works and drainage connections are finished, officials expect the corridor to be fully complete, cementing it as one of Nepal’s most significant infrastructure achievements in recent years.

For readers who rely on this route regularly, the message from ADB-funded project engineers is clear: after seven years of hardship, the worst of the Narayangadh-Butwal journey is now firmly in the past.

Source:  Singha Darbar