Araniko Highway

Highway H3 in Nepal
Araniko Rajmarg अरनिको राजमार्ग
Basic data
Operator:	Department of Roads
Start of the street:	Kathmandu ( 27 ° 42 ′  N , 85 ° 19 ′  E )
End of street:	Kodari ( 27 ° 58 ′  N , 85 ° 58 ′  E )
Overall length:	144 km
Province:	Bagmati
The Araniko Highway near Kodari .
Course of the road Bagmati Kathmandu Madhyapur Thimi Bhaktapur Banepa Dhulikhel S to Kamalamai Panchkhal Indrawati Dolalghat Balephi Khola Barhabise Bhotekoshi Listikot Bhotekoshi Kodari Bhotekoshi ===  People's Republic of China Further on   Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap map

The Araniko Highway ( Nepali अरनिको राजमार्ग : Araniko Rajmarg ) is a highway between Kathmandu , the capital of Nepal , and the Bridge of Sino-Nepalese Friendship on the border with the People's Republic of China . It is considered to be one of the most dangerous roads in Nepal.

Surname

The street is named after the Nepalese architect Araniko , who mainly worked in China. Since this is sometimes also called Arniko , the road is sometimes referred to as Arniko Rajmarg . Rajmarg is the Nepalese name for highway .

history

The Araniko Highway was built in 1964 with the support of the People's Republic of China. Previously, there was only a narrow path used by yak caravans at this point . Since then, the road in the valley has been modernized and widened again and again. In the higher elevations of the Himalayas , the road is still in extremely poor condition, not paved and sometimes impassable. The road is part of the Asian highway AH42 .

Both the local population and Nepalese business people criticize the unchanged conditions since 1964 and blame a certain lethargy of the Nepalese bureaucracy. The People's Republic of China has repeatedly offered, most recently in December 2012, to develop the Araniko Highway into a modern transport link. This has not yet been taken up by the Nepalese side.

During a severe earthquake in Nepal in 2015 , the Araniko Highway was destroyed in several places; it was only released again in August 2015. Chinese engineers played a key role in restoring the road.

Course of the road

The 144-kilometer route will initially be a four-lane road from Kathmandu to Bhaktapur and from there as a two-lane road to Dhulikhel (around 30 kilometers). From there, the traffic route descends via serpentines into the Panchkal Valley to the village of Dolalghat , located on two rivers , which is often visited by western tourists for the recreational sports offered there, especially rafting tours. The highway then leads to Barhabise in the Sindhupalchok district (approx. 25 kilometers). The place is also the terminus for most of the buses arriving from the capital.

The rest of the route is unpaved and climbs up into the Himalaya Mountains, which are characterized by extreme differences in altitude . It leads along many steep slopes and crosses flat, open streams. Often there is no securing of the dirt road leading to the abyss. During and after rains, landslides occur again and again , with larger masses of earth and rock blocking the path for a long time; Accidents are common.

The village of Kodari is the last settlement on the highway. Currently (as of July 2013), with financial and technical help from the People's Republic of China, larger halls and a truck depot are being built in the vicinity of the place, which will serve the rapidly increasing movement of goods between the countries. The remaining 6 kilometers of the highway from there to the Chinese border will also be modernized.

Just before the Sino-Nepalese border

Bridge of Sino-Nepalese Friendship

The Araniko Highway ends at the Sino-Nepalese Friendship Bridge . On the Chinese side, the route continues on the expanded Friendship Highway to Lhasa , the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region , and finally as the 318 national road to Shanghai .

Economical meaning

The merchandise imports and exports between Nepal and China are growing steadily for years. The majority of the exchange of goods takes place via the Araniko Highway , the only official road connection on the 1,400-kilometer border between the two countries. Some of the goods are transported to India and offered in the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar . Some goods are brought to the port of Calcutta for further shipment , which has been partially modernized by Chinese investments.

In 2012, it is estimated that goods worth around 440 million RMB were transported on the Araniko Highway .

Web links

Commons : Araniko Highway  - Collection of Images

• Website of the Nepalese Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (en)
• Analysis of Chinese foreign policy in Nepal taking into account the Nepalese infrastructure (s)
• Analysis of Sino-Nepalese relations with reference to the Araniko Highway (s)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Araniko Highway: lasting symbol of Nepal-China Friendship ( Memento from August 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Report of the Xinhua news agency from July 5, 2012. Accessed June 22, 2013.
2. ↑ China aids Nepal to construct dry port at Larcha ( Memento from July 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) The weekly mirror from April 2013. Retrieved on July 6, 2013.
3. ↑ China ready to repair Araniko highway ( Memento from February 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Nepal Republic Media from July 11, 2013. ()
4. ↑ Nepal-Tibet highway reopens after earthquake Lonely Planet travel news of August 7, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015
5. ↑ China-funded Larcha dry port construction begins in Nepal Report by the Xinhua news agency , posted on people's daily on December 21, 2012. Accessed on July 7, 2013.
6. ↑ Bilateral Relations (Nepal-China) ( Memento from September 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Balance sheet of the Nepalese Foreign Ministry from 2012. Accessed on July 6, 2013.
7. ↑ China: Engaging Nepal as a Land Port Analysis of the Indian Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, May 29, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
8. ↑ China's Nepalese friendship road leads to the heart of India's market The Guardian, April 23, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
9. ↑ Nepal's Araniko Highway ( Memento of the original from April 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. China Central Television website , April 28, 2013. Accessed May 18, 2013.