An overview of our presentation on rural roads and disaster risk in Nepal, highlighting the role of the private sector in disaster risk management and safer road development.
Rural roads are vital for connecting remote communities to markets, schools, hospitals, and government services. The Korala–Kali Gandaki Highway to Upper Mustang has dramatically improved connectivity, reducing journeys that once required several days of walking to just a few hours by road. This shows how improvement in road development has increased connectivity in the hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal. This has eased transportation in the rural parts of Nepal.
Rapid road expansion in Nepal has, at times, resulted in unplanned and poorly engineered infrastructure. Inadequate planning and construction practices significantly increase vulnerability to road accidents and disasters, including landslides, floods, and erosion. While rural roads are vital for economic development, access to essential services, and social inclusion, poor design and execution often turn them into sources of risk rather than resilience.
Mechanised construction using excavators, bulldozers, and drilling equipment has become the default approach, frequently without sufficient engineering oversight or environmental consideration. There remains a limited capacity to mainstream disaster risk reduction into road design and construction practices.
The challenge is not just about building more roads—it is about building safer, more resilient roads. Engaging the private sector meaningfully can be a key part of that solution. The private sector actors, such as local contractors, excavator owners, and engineering organisations, are central to both the construction and long-term maintenance of roads.
However, the effectiveness of private sector involvement depends heavily on strong governance, clear accountability, and strict adherence to technical standards. Engagement must go beyond transactional arrangements and evolve into genuine collaboration.
A true partnership requires shared responsibility as well as shared rewards. At present, private sector engagement is largely limited to traditional client–contractor relationships, with limited scope for collaboration and risk-sharing. The absence of a well-defined partnership model constrains innovation, accountability, and long-term performance.
The vision for private sector engagement, therefore, is to move beyond short-term contracting toward partnership-based models that align incentives, encourage quality and resilience, and ensure collective ownership of outcomes.
Safer rural roads in Nepal require moving beyond short-term construction goals toward risk-informed planning and stronger collaboration with the private sector to reduce disaster impacts and ensure long-term sustainability.
Rural roads will continue to shape Nepal’s development trajectory. The question is whether they will amplify risk or strengthen resilience. Engaging the private sector in a structured, responsible, and collaborative way offers a clear path toward safer roads and more resilient communities.
In 2021, under the Pratibaddha Project, Shuva Sharma, a Climate-Resilient Infrastructure and Road Expert from Scott Wilson Nepal, delivered a presentation titled “Rural Roads and Disasters in Nepal: How the Private Sector Can Be Engaged in Disaster Risk Management and the Development of Safer Roads.”
View our presentation on the Scott Wilson Nepal YouTube channel to learn more.
