Kathmandu, Sept 22: The track of the Araniko Highway, which had been completely blocked for a month due to landslides, has become operational. The road section between Bahrabise and Kodari, which connects Nepal with China, is now open.
Vehicular movement has not resumed yet. Narayan Datt Bhandari, Chief of the Charikot Road Division Office, said all landslides were cleared by Sunday, and the road will be graveled on Monday before allowing vehicles to pass.
“The track of the Bahrabise–Kodari section, blocked for a month, is fully open from Sunday,” Bhandari said, adding that traffic will resume after graveling is completed.
According to him, three landslides had occurred in Daklang, one in Ghattekhola, and one in the Kodari section. The Charikot Road Division Office deployed three excavators, three loaders, 13 tippers, and 40 workers, with support from Electro Hydro, to clear the debris.
Attempts had been made to open the road earlier, but repeated rains brought fresh mudslides, and the road had remained completely closed since August 24. The closure disrupted local movement as well as Nepal-China trade.
The landslides also put nearly 200 households above the slide area at risk. Locals had stopped the clearance work, demanding a permanent solution to the problem before further landslide removal.
Kulman Ghising, who holds the transport and physical infrastructure portfolio in the interim election government, convened a meeting of stakeholders and ordered the clearance work to be expedited.
Following his directive, an all-party meeting was held at the Tatopani Customs Office on September 19. It was agreed to address locals’ demands and that they would not obstruct landslide clearance work. The meeting also decided to call for bids for a permanent solution by mid-November and start work by mid-July next year.
After the agreement, the Charikot Road Division intensified work with a target of reopening the highway within seven days, which has now been achieved.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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