Call of bids for reconstruction of ‘Churiyamai Tunnel’
Makawanpur: – Bids have been called on Thursday for the reconstruction of Asia’s first tunnel. The Transport Infrastructure Directorate of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development of Bagmati Pradesh has issued a call for bids to Contractor Company to submit a proposal to complete the construction of the tunnel within the maximum limit of Rs. 5 Crores, said Dr. Sahadev Bahadur Bhandari, Chief of the Transport Infrastructure Directorate.
The state government has put forward a plan to develop the tunnel as a tourist area by reconstructing it. Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Rameshwor Phuyal informed that a beautiful Tony Hagen garden and other structures will be constructed to add beauty in the tunnel.
The Churiyamai tunnel connecting Bara in Province 2 and Makawanpur in Bagmati Province was built 104 years ago in 1917 under Rana Prime Minister Chandrashamsher. According to the elders, the vehicles were able to travel through the tunnel till 2020 BS.
According to Chief Minister Dormani Poudel, who traveled through the Churiyamai tunnel in 2018 BS, trains used travel from India to Amalekhgunj in Bara and then tunnel did not come into operation. According to the elders, the road was constructed from Amalekhgunj to Bhimphedi of Makawanpur. Even though there was no road to go to Kathmandu through road, we used to ship the vehicles carrying on our shoulders from Makawanpur to Kathmandu. The then Rana government had dug a tunnel there as an alternative as the motor could not climb due to the steep slope and even if it climbed it could not carry a lot of goods, it would cost more time and fuel.
Tony Hagen, a geographer who had come to Nepal at that time, wrote in his autobiography as eighth wonder of the world in his book. Hagen, who came to Nepal from Switzerland to study the geological condition of Nepal’s mines, said in his book ‘The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal’ that the tunnel surprised him.
South Asia’s first stolen tunnel, built for transportation purposes, has historical significance which was constructed under the leadership of Colonel Engineer Dilijung Thapa of the Nepal Army. The tunnel was built by Chandrashamsher in 1974 and was 500 meters long. Currently, only 280 meters of this road is left after the landslide filled one side of the road.
Designed and built by Nepal’s first engineer Thapa, there is a famous Shakti Peeth Churiyamai temple near this tunnel. When Engineer Thapa started digging the tunnel, the goddess told him in a dream, “You built a road where I live now build a temple for me.” Legend has said that Thapa built the temple. RSS
