By Our Reporter
Only 15 of 62 passengers, who went missing after two buses were swept away by a landslide at Simaltal along the Narayangadh-Mugling road section on Friday morning last week, have been found as of Tuesday.
The two-night buses which had gone missing in the Trishuli River, have not been found despite their search for days.
The bodies were found in Chitwan and Nawalparasi districts.
One of the buses belonging to Ganapati Deluxe Travel with registration number Bagmati Province 001 Kha 2495, was heading to Gaur, Rautahat, from Kathmandu while another belonging to Angels Travels with number Bagmati Province 03-006 Kha-1516, was going to Kathmandu from Birgunj. But both of them went missing in a landslide that pushed them into flooded Trishuli.
In another landslide in Chitwan, a bus driver died after he was hit by a rock the same night.
The accident suggests that the roads in Nepal are not safe. Worse is the condition of the Narayangadh-Mugling road. The entire area which had become weak after the 2015 quake was further weakened because of explosions for the expansion of the road thereafter.
Further, building roads haphazardly above the key highways have added risks. A road built above the highway is blamed for the landslide at Simaltal in which two buses and their passengers went missing.
Now the government needs to impose a ban on the practice of making roads haphazardly. Many of the landslides across the country occurred because of the road tracks opened by the local levels. Similarly, the condition of all major roads should be studied to identify the potential risks. Only then the accidents like that occurred in Simaltal of Chitwan could be controlled.
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