Around 150 Kathmandu-bound goods containers have been stranded at Nepal-China border point of Rasuwagadhi for the last five days after a rockslide blocked the Syaphrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road section.

The debris of the rockslide, which occurred last Sunday, have piled up at Ling Ling.

Traders are worried by the obstruction of Nepal’s second largest trade route with China (after Tatopani-Khasa) just ahead of the festivals of Dashain and Tihar, which account for a large percentage of their yearly sales.

Containers loaded with imported clothes, shoes, electric appliances and apples have piled up at the customs yard. In addition, nearly 200 containers have been stuck on the Timure-Rasuwagadhi road section.

Another landslide at Ghattekhola, Timure, has obstructed containers passage to Kerung.

Dhurba Kumar Regmi, an official of the Timure Customs Office, said customs transactions have been affected. “After imports and exports came to a standstill, revenue collection has dropped to almost nil.”

Of the total stranded containers, 80 are carrying apples. “The apples have started to rot,” said Ravi Pradhan, a trader.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Phadindra Prasai said they were finding it hard to remove the debris from the road. “Even if we throw such a huge amount of stones and mud down the river, the water flow may be blocked,” he said.

The Rasuwagadhi hydropower project has been trying to clear the rocks for the past three days ago, but it has not been able to do so. Government officials said the removal of the stones would not be possible without using explosives.

Due to the roadblock, Timure has started to face shortage of green vegetables, while Chinese tourists coming to Nepal through the route are forced to cross the blocked section on foot.

The landslide has disrupted electricity supply from Timure to Rasuwagadhi and telecommunications services have been affected.

Just after the landslide, the district administration had written to Home and Defence Ministries for the use of explosive to remove the debris. Following which, a technical team of Nepal Army reached the site on Thursday evening.

The Army has estimated that it will take at least a week and more than 300 explosions to clear the road.