Karnali Highway: route, dated closure reports and safety record

The Karnali Highway runs from the Indian border at Banke to the Chinese border at Humla¹. Below are the route, how it was built and what was reported on which day. For the quicker alternative see flights to Jumla; the rest of the cluster is in the getting-there hub.

The route

The Karnali Corridor stretches from Jamunaha in Banke District, near the Indian border, to Hilsa in Humla District, near the Chinese border, a total of 505 km¹. Its major intersections are Nepalgunj, Kohalpur, Chhinchu, Birendranagar, Baddichaur, Tallo Dungeshwar, Rakam, Manma and Okhartola¹. The highway links Jumla with Birendranagar, the Karnali capital, and with the rest of Surkhet district¹. A banner on the Department of Roads home page points “straight to Kalikot and Jumla” along the Karnali Corridor⁵.

The southern section from Jamunaha to Birendranagar used to be a separate national highway, known as Ratna Highway or National Highway 12¹. The 107 km section from Hilsa to Simikot was completed in 2019¹, and a Bailey bridge over the Chuwakhola river was inaugurated on 6 July 2025, connecting Simikot to the national road network¹.

How it was built

The then prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala laid the foundation in 1992, but the passage was opened only in 2007¹. Of the 232 km between Birendranagar and Jumla, 17 km were blacktopped in 2010¹. Construction of the corridor began in the late 1990s, and progress was slowed by difficult terrain, administrative delays and inconsistent state attention¹.

A study in the Nepal Sociological Journal dates it differently: construction began in 2000 and was completed in 2015, with a basic earthen road open in 2000 to 2002 and nearly 14 years needed to finish the graveled and blacktopped highway¹⁰. It puts the Surkhet to Jumla length at 233 km¹⁰. The highway has tremendously reduced travel time to nearby towns¹⁰.

In 2010 heavy monsoon rains closed the highway with landslides, and it reopened on 3 October, three months later¹.

Paving and contracts

As of March 2026 the Karnali Corridor spanned 123 kilometres from Khulalu in Kalikot to Hilsa in Humla via Bajura and was the only road access to Humla⁹. The Army handed over 112 kilometres of the track to the Department of Roads in January 2024, while work was still going on the remaining 11 kilometres⁹. Contracts for blacktopping and upgrading were awarded in 2025, and work had started on a 50-kilometre stretch from Pilichaur in Bajura to Tumcha in Sarkegad Rural Municipality of Humla⁹. In March 2026 the works were being carried out under the North-South Trade Route Expansion Project of the Department of Roads⁹.

Contracts worth more than 1 billion were awarded in the year before February 2025 to build concrete bridges on the rivers and streams of the corridor⁷. In June 2026 the Road Division Office in Jumla cancelled 16 contract agreements for the Karnali Highway after the road work was not completed on time⁸.

Dated reports of closures

On 17 August 2025 the road to Dailekh had been cut off since the previous evening, and vehicles heading to Surkhet via Kalikot were stranded at several locations². On 27 August 2025 equipment and manpower had been deployed for repair after the previous night’s collapse, and the road division chief cautioned that it would take some time before traffic resumed smoothly; travellers were advised to use alternative routes until repairs were finished³.

Safety record

As of 9 July 2026 the highway had remained the deadliest road in Karnali Province despite years of repairs⁴. Police figures reported that day:

Police figures give 34 deaths in 113 accidents on the highway in the fiscal year then current, against 31 deaths in the previous fiscal year and 46 in 2023-24⁴. Authorities attributed the rising number of accidents to narrow roads and overcrowded vehicles⁴. In the week before 9 July 2026 a passenger minibus from Surkhet to Raskot plunged into the Karnali river from the highway at Sangetada in Dailekh⁴. Earlier major crashes include 42 deaths at Kitu in Dailekh on 18 March 2010 and 28 deaths at Bittamod in Kalikot on 7 December 2011⁴.

Crash barriers

The World Bank results story on mountain road safety records that 73,000 metres of crash barriers were installed on eight Strategic Road Network roads, totalling 700 km, between early 2016 and mid-2017¹¹. Kalyan in Surkhet and Gadgadeni in Jumla were among the high-risk sections that received them¹¹. A US$7.47 million grant was approved on 8 April 2015 to fund the barriers, and the Department of Roads implemented the project¹¹. The World Bank estimates the barriers may save 3,456 lives over 20 years, on GRSF projections¹¹. A Surkhet to Jumla bus driver quoted in January 2020 said drivers feel at ease on roads with barriers¹¹.

The current situation of transportation in Nepal, autumn 2026

On 25 September 2026 the Kathmandu Post reported that heavy rain had disrupted transport and raised the risk of floods and landslides across several parts of Nepal¹². The Mechi Highway in Taplejung had reopened after a landslide, but vehicles were barred from it at night during the forecast heavy rain¹². Night traffic was suspended on the Sandhikharka-Gorusinge road in Arghakhanchi, and the Ramechhap administration urged caution over floods, landslides and road blockages¹².

On 10 October 2026 the Kathmandu Post reported traffic halted on the Lokaha bridge on the Narayangadh-Kawasoti section of the Mahendra Highway¹³. At Galaundi on the Prithvi Highway nearly 100 metres of road cracked and vehicle movement halted¹³. The collapse stemmed from erosion by the Trishuli river after the Bhotekoshi floods of 26 August¹³. More on the monsoon pattern is in monsoon road closures.

A May 2018 itinerary

In May 2018 a Buddha Air itinerary described the Karnali highway as graveled and easy to drive in, with road construction ongoing in some areas⁶. It starts with a 20 km jeep ride from Surkhet to Guranshe, then about 7 hours from Guranshe to the Kalikot headquarters⁶. For the route on towards Rara see the Mugu page.