A massive landslide wiped out a 22-room classroom block and an office building of Durga Bhawani Higher Secondary School at Bungal Municipality-6 in Bajhang on Monday evening.

School headmaster Hikmat Bahadur Aidi said properties worth around Rs 30 million were destroyed in the disaster.

“We don’t know where to run the classes for 700 students” he said. “We’ve lost everything including the documents and records that we had maintained since school’s establishment.”

District Education Officer Surya Bahadur Singh said the office will soon make an arrangement to resume the classes at the school.

The incident site is a one day’s walk from Chainpur, the district headquarters.

The region has been witnessing continuous rainfall for the last couple of days.

Meanwhile, the efforts to clear the landslide-caused obstructions along the Jaya Prithvi Highway are still in progress.

Scores of vehicles remained stranded on the highway for the second day on Tuesday as security personnel were busy removing landslide debirs to resume the traffic.

Police Inspector Ram Bahadur Chand said landslides have blocked several sections of the highway, including Tamail Bazaar, Matela, Deura and Bagadgaun. 

“A massive landslide has blocked the highway at Tamail Bazaar and we are still not sure how long the debris clearance work is going to take,” he said.

Jaya Prithvi Highway is the only motorway link between Bajhang and other districts. With the highway cut off by landslides and no vehicles able to enter or exit the district, people worry there could be shortage of daily goods. There is already a shortage of fruits and vegetables in the district. 

The highway obstruction has also affected many sick people who have been referred by the District Hospital to hospitals outside the district for further treatment.

No sign of 4 persons missing in Tinau

PALPA: A joint search party from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force scoured the Tinau river until late Tuesday evening in search of the four persons who went missing after the jeep they were traveling in was swept away by the rain-fed currents on early Monday morning. The missing jeep was recovered some 15 metres downstream from the incident site but there was no sign of the missing victims, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Pandit said. Usha Shrestha, 27, of Tansen-1; Padam Bahadur Kunwar, 40, of Baganaskali-3; Tilak Bahadur Gaha, 43; and Maya Gaha, 40, are missing and feared dead in the incident. Meanwhile, police safely rescued a 10-year-old boy, who was trapped in the rain-fed Arun stream in Nisdi Rural Municipality-4 since Monday afternoon. Rajin Sunari was trapped in the middle of the stream for nearly 15 hours. 

45 families to be relocated after landslide threats

CHITWAN: Chitwan district administration is preparing to relocate the occupants of 45 houses along the Narayangadh-Muglin road that are at high risk of landslides. Chief District Officer Narayan Prasad Bhatta said a notice has been issued to the concerned families to apply for compensation within a week. The compensation amount would be determined by a committee formed under Assistant Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma, he added. The district administration is preparing to shift 45 families from Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29 and Ichchhakamana Rural Municipality at the suggestion of the Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project, which is expanding the 36 km road section.