Mahendra Highway

The highway is mostly a single-lane road in each direction. It is a major infrastructure element because east–west travel was previously limited to the Hulaki Highway built during the Rana regime, expensive and limited air travel, or Nepalese trains and buses. The highway crosses the Terai from east to west for over . It connects Nepal from Kakarbhitta (Mechinagar Municipality) in the east to Mahendra Nagar in the west. Bharatpur city and Chitwan Valley are located towards the central part of this highway. The major destinations along and around the highway are Mechinagar, Bhadrapur, Itahari, Janakpur, Birgunj, Bharatpur, Butwal, Siddharthanagar, Nepalganj, and Bhim Dutta. == History ==

Earlier, the highway connecting the east-west region was only limited to postal highways during the Rana period. However, this highway was not a fully paved or black-topped road. It was only limited to the Rapti river in the west and did not include the 4 western districts of Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur which were famously known as Naya Muluk. Nepalese were compelled to travel via Indian territory while visiting from one district to another district, be it in Chitwan or Naya Muluk, due to the dense forested region as well as north-south sans bridges. Due to lack of enough budget it was constructed with economic and technical assistance from various countries. King Mahendra had initially requested India to build this highway. However, when India refused, they sought the help of the Soviet Union. India was also attracted after the road from Dhalkebar to Pathalaiya was built by Soviet Union. Similarly, the section from Mechi-Dhalkebar (Jhapa to Janakpur) was constructed by India, while the Hetauda-Narayanghat section was constructed by USA Aid through Asian Development Bank and the Narayanghat-Butwal section by the United Kingdom. Lastly, the Butwal-Kohalpur section was constructed by India. In 1961, King Mahendra laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Highway at Gaidakot. The highway was later named Mahendra Highway in honor of King Mahendra. The highway has greatly contributed to the all round socio-economic development of the country. == Route (east to west) ==

Mechinagar (Kakarbhitta) to Dhalkebar This section of the highway was built with Economic assistance from the government of India. The construction began in 1966 and was completed in 1971. On the Indian side, the road continues through PanitankiBagdogra and Siliguri. The construction was divided into 2 sections : Eastern and Western. By 10 March 1970, of the 75 miles due to be constructed, 30 miles of forest had been cleared and surveyed and approximately 12 miles were under construction. By 1972 the western section had been completed and inaugurated and following three years after that the eastern section was completed. The section starts from Mahendra Chowk towards West of Butwal. The highway turns north to cross the Dudhwa Hills (350m ascent) into Inner-Terai Deukhuri Valley, then crosses the West Rapti River, which has no relation to the East Rapti River of Chitwan. Just beyond the river (291 km from Hetauda), the highway reaches Bhalubang, where a spur road continues north into Pyuthan and Rolpa districts. The Mahendra Highway heads west again, following the Rapti downstream through Deukhuri. 27 km west of Bhalubang at Lamahi, a spur road goes north to Dang Valley, Dang Airport, and Tulsipur town. 35 km beyond Lamahi, Rapti Highway departs north for Salyan and Rukum districts. Kohalpur to Mahakali Kohalpur, 428 km west of Hetauda, is the junction for highway south to Nepalganj and the border with India and north to Birendranagar in Surkhet. From Kohalpur the highway passes the Kusum-Ilaka forest, which is being eyed as a potential extension area of Bardia National Park, which lies to the north-west of Nepalganj, on the Nepal-India border. ==Major junctions==