What roads changed in remote Nepal: markets, work and landslides

One 2025 study of a Karnali Highway ward recorded changes in markets, work and travel time², while a study of 200 hill wards found little systematic evidence of economic gains and linked earthen road expansion to landslide-affected area¹. The rural roads hub holds the related pages.

The economic evidence

A study of the economic benefits of the two main types of rural road in Nepal, blacktop and earthen, covered 200 wards in the hilly areas¹. It found little systematic evidence that better road access enhances economic outcomes¹. Rural road construction has carried on at a high pace in Nepal for over 20 years¹.

A 2026 paper in the journal Asian Development Review found that earthen roads in the hilly areas generate limited economic benefits but carry a high landslide cost¹. Across a wide range of economic indicators, the authors found no real quantitative data that rural roads were improving the livelihoods of people in remote locations¹. The case for these roads rests on access to education, markets, health facilities and jobs, and on direct employment during construction when a participatory approach is used¹. Most earlier Nepal-specific studies date from the 1990s to early 2000s, when the country had a very different, primarily agricultural, economy¹.

The two road types differ in cost. Blacktop roads are often upgrades on existing roads, so they inflict a much lower environmental cost than new construction¹. Earthen roads tend to be new-build¹.

The landslide cost

Ward-level estimates showed that the expansion of earthen motorable roads between 2016 and 2018 was associated with a significant increase in landslide-affected areas, whereas blacktop roads exhibited no detectable effect¹. The mechanism, and what travellers should expect in the monsoon, is in landslides and road safety.

What the Karnali Highway changed

The Karnali Highway connects Surkhet to Jumla via Dailekh and Kalikot over 233 km, and its construction significantly improved regional connectivity². Construction began in 2000 and was completed in 2015². The basic earthen road opened in 2000 to 2002, but it took nearly 14 years to complete the fully graveled and blacktopped highway in 2015². Route detail is on the Karnali Highway page.

A 2025 Nepal Sociological Journal study of Dahikhola-Chhati, Ward 1 of a rural municipality along the highway, recorded these changes². The ward has 917 residents in 133 households, and the study was published in June 2025².

Cash-based daily wage work has become more common in Dahikhola-Chhati, reducing dependence on exploitative caste-based economic systems². Improved road access let local producers and workers reach broader markets².

The national road network

In May 2025 the Kathmandu Post gave the Economic Survey 2024-25 figures: the government had constructed 355 km of new blacktopped roads in the first eight months of that fiscal year³. The survey put blacktopped roads at 19,163 km by mid-March, gravelled roads 8,204 km and unpaved roads 8,765 km, which brings the network to 36,132 km³. The government has prioritised expanding road access to remote regions³.

A programme for provincial and local roads

On 21 November 2024 the Government of Nepal and the World Bank jointly launched the $128 million (NRs 17.15 billion) Provincial and Local Roads Improvement Program-Phase 1⁴. The Ministry of Urban Development implements it in coordination with provincial and local levels⁴. The first of three phases covers Sudurpashchim, Karnali and Madhesh provinces and 13 municipalities, to be scaled up in later phases⁴.

About one million people are expected to benefit from improved access to all-weather, resilient and safe provincial and local roads and bridges⁴. The design combines five-year performance-based maintenance with construction contracts, and routine maintenance conducted by self-help groups⁴. At the launch a tri-partite memorandum of understanding was signed between the federal government and the provincial and local governments of Sudurpashchim, Karnali and Madhesh⁴. The Deputy Prime Minister called the project’s focus on environment-friendly, climate-resilient construction techniques and its five-year maintenance component key⁴.

Related pages: footpaths across rivers on trail bridges, the unpaved Mugu-Humla link road, and how a rural road is planned and built in how rural roads are built.