National
Landslides and floods disrupt Kodari Highway
Landslides and floods have damaged the Kodari Highway at several places, disrupting traffic in Tatopani and Barhabise areas of Sindhupalchok district.Anish Tiwari
Landslides and floods have damaged the Kodari Highway at several places, disrupting traffic in Tatopani and Barhabise areas of Sindhupalchok district.
The highway has been damaged at several places, including Sirise, Chakubhir, Daklang, Larcha, Nau Kilo, Dash Kilo, Poplang and Liping Bazaar, forcing travellers to walk long distance through landslide-prone areas to catch buses and passenger cars.
“We don’t know when the transport service will resume on the highway. The bridge at Sadhi Kholca that connected Tatopani and Barhabise has been badly damaged in a recent flood,” said Sanu Kanchhi Tamang of Jhirpu Hindi. Pasang Sherpa, a resident of Duguna, said Kodari Highway was too dangerous to travel these days.
“Floods and landslides have rendered the highway impassable. No driver is going to risk their lives on such condition,” he said.
The Armed Police Force has mobilised its personnel at various landslide-prone areas along the highway for rescue work. The Tatopani area has suffered disaster after disaster in the recent years, from the devastating earthquake of 2015 to the Bhote Koshi River flood of 2016 that swept away 261 homes.
Besides natural calamities, the place is also going through a severe economic crisis, with the Tatopani border point, once a major trade gateway between Nepal and China, closed down in the wake of the earthquake.
Many families have lost their businesses and jobs after the area stopped becoming the main overland entry point for goods imported from China.
Ram Chandra Ghatani, a resident of Nayabasti, said the town of Tatopani was no longer safe to live after the earthquake.
“Tatopani has witnessed several incidents of landslides in the last three years. Geologists have already warned that if landslides were to continue in Tatopani, then its residents will have to leave the town,” he said.