Sagarmatha Highway or NH16 (previously: H09)is an Interprovincial National Highway of
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
that connects
Solukhumbu District
Solukhumbu District ( , Sherpa: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. As the name suggests, it consists of the sub-regions Solu and Khumbu. The closest post office to Solukhumbu with a postal co ...
to
Siraha District
Siraha District (; ), a district in Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. It is situated in the Terai#Outer Terai, Terai belt of Nepal. The district, with Siraha as its district headquarters ...
via
Udayapur District
Udayapur District (, is one of the 14 districts of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. The district, with Triyuga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in 2001 had a population of 287,689, in 2011 of 317,532, in 2021 of 342,773
Rive ...
. At Kadmaha the Sagarmatha Highway crosses
Mahendra Highway
Mahendra Highway or NH01 (previously: H01) (), also called East-West Highway (), runs across the Terai geographical region of Nepal, from Mechinagar in the east to Bhim Datta in the west, cutting across the entire width of the country. It is th ...
(NH01) which also called East–West National Highway which runs across the
Terai
The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
This lowland belt is characterised by ...
geographical regions of Nepal.
The construction of the road began 23 years ago to link
Diktel
Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi is a Municipality in Khotang District of Province No. 1 of Nepal. The municipality was established in May 2014 merging some the previous Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Bamrang, Laphyang and Kahalle as Dikt ...
, the headquarters of Khotang with
Gaighat of Udayapur. In 1994, the then Prime Minister
Manmohan Adhikari
Man Mohan Adhikari (Magi) (; 9 June 1920 – 26 April 1999) was the 31st Prime Minister of Nepal from 1994 to 1995, representing the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). He was the first communist Prime Minister in Nepal and ...
had inaugurated the construction work at Bokse in Gaighat. The 156 kilometre long Sagarmatha Highway has been constructed with the primary aim of linking Diktel with the national road network.
The highway starts at Indo-Nepal border called
Thadi
Thadi () or Thadi Viswaspatti is a very old border town and a market place of Nepal in Siraha District bordering Indian town of Laukaha. It is currently part of Bhagwanpur Rural municipality. It is located nearly 370 kilometers or 107 miles east ...
and runs north towards
Lahan
Lahan (लहान) is a city and municipality in the Siraha district of Madhesh, Nepal. Lahan is the 36th densest municipality in the country, with a population of 102,031 spread out across 24 wards, the most wards of any Nepalese municipality. ...
. The road terminates at Lahan merging with
NH01 and starts again at Kadmaha which is east from Lahan and runs north towards Siswari which is far. From Siswari up to Jaljale the road runs on
Sivalik Hills
The Sivalik Hills, also known as Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas.
The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'. The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and are also home to the Soanian Middle Pale ...
surrounded by jungle. The road is winding and have many
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...
s. From Jaljale the road runs on plain terrain toward north-east and enters into
Gaighat Bazar crossing the Triyuga river through Triyuga bridge. The distance from Jaljale to Gaighat is . From Gaighat to Phoksingtar the distance is and the whole section runs on
Lower Himalayas which is called Mahabharat Hills. There is jungle and winding roads. There are destinations e.g.
Saune,
Ranibas and Pokhari. At Phoksingtar the road crosses
Sunkoshi River
The Sunkoshi, also spelled Sunkosi, is a river that is part of the Koshi or Saptkoshi River system in Nepal. Sunkoshi has two source streams, one that arises within Nepal in Choukati, and the other more significant stream that flows in from Ny ...
and enters into
Khotang District
Khotang District () is one of 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. The district, with Diktel as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2021) of 206,312. and runs north parellel Sunkosi River upto Regmitar. At Regmitar NH16 crosses
NH12 and continue runs north upto Mohure. At Mohure the NH16 highway merges with
NH03 finally.
source
References
{{National Highways in Nepal
Highways in Nepal
1994 establishments in Nepal
Roads in Koshi Province
Roads in Madhesh Province