Tatopani is slowly coming to life after the opening of the 26 km Barhabise-Tatopani road that was severely damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

Local businesses, which largely relied on tourists, are finally seeing a steady flow of prospective clienteles after a long lull. All tourism and business activities at this Nepal-China border town in Sindhupalchok district had come to a halt after the earthquakes caused a huge damage of properties and infrastructure.

Sindhupalchok was one of the worst earthquake-hit districts. The district is still recovering from the disaster. 

But recovery was particularly hard for Tatopani locals. Their road to recovery was further slowed when the region faced another devastation caused by the Bhotekoshi river flood in July 2016.

It was the resilience displayed by the locals during and in the aftermath of these disasters that resuscitated Tatopani back to life from dead. 

After the damaged road was opened, the locals returned to start their life anew. They rebuilt and repaired their homes and shops that were damaged by the earthquakes.

 Police Inspector Raju Pandey of Tatopani Area Police Office said normalcy was slowly being restored.

“Shops and hotels are springing up, the number of visitors is growing and more vehicles are travelling these days,” he said.

Tilak Bahadur Magar, office assistant of the immigration office in Tatopani, said the locals were pleased after the road link with Tatopani was restored.

Although the cross-border movement is still closed, the locals are hopeful that things will soon get back to as they were, he said. 

Besides Tatopani, the nearby Kodari is also recovering from the loss it suffered, particularly by the Bhotekoshi flood six months ago.

“The opening of road and arrival of tourists have spurred the people in Kodari as well as Tatopani to rebuild their neighbourhoods and get on with their lives. Put the tragedy caused by the earthquake and flood behind them,” said Dambar Bahadur Shrestha, secretary of Tatopani VDC.