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🇳🇵 Nepal /Disasters & Emergencies

Kathmandu supply routes rerouted after floods sever main highway

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Landslides and flooding severed the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir, disrupting Kathmandu’s main road link with the rest of Nepal.
  • Authorities have opened temporary routes and a 252-metre track, allowing essential goods to reach the capital while engineers work toward restoring normal traffic.
  • Fuel supplies remain stable, but cooking-gas deliveries cover only about 60% to 70% of demand and vegetable distribution has become more difficult.

Kathmandu’s main road connection with the rest of Nepal has been cut by landslides and flooding, forcing authorities and businesses to improvise routes for fuel, food, medicine and water.

The damage occurred on August 30 at Krishnabhir in Dhading, where the Trishuli River eroded the rock beneath the Prithvi Highway and swallowed a crucial section. Seven days later, a 252-metre track temporarily reconnected the site to the highway. Engineers cut into the hillside rather than following the river, aiming to reduce the risk of further flooding.

Large buses and freight vehicles entering Kathmandu must use the Tribhuvan Highway, while vehicles heading toward Hetauda take the Kanti Lokpath. Smaller vehicles can enter the Kathmandu Valley through Bhimphedi, Kulekhani, Sisneri and Dakshinkali, with return traffic using the Pharping, Phakhel, Kulekhani and Bhimphedi route.

Bijaya Jaisi, director general of the Department of Roads, said substantial work remained and normal traffic could resume in about a week. The Nepal Geo-Technical Society opened the temporary track. Krishnabhir has suffered repeated landslides, including major disruptions in the late 1990s and a slide in 2000 that took about a week to clear.

Fuel tankers are travelling from Hetauda through Bhainse, Palung and Naubise. Liquefied petroleum gas is arriving from plants in southern districts in smaller trucks after cylinders are refilled there. Nepal Oil Corporation executive director Nagendra Shah said petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplies had not been affected, but added, “We have not been able to meet the demand for gas. We are currently meeting around 60 to 70 percent of demand.”

Vegetables from northern Makwanpur are still reaching Kathmandu through the Kanti Lokpath. The area sends an estimated 300 to 400 tonnes daily, but the loss of two-way traffic has complicated distribution to other parts of Nepal.

We have not been able to meet the demand for gas. We are currently meeting around 60 to 70 percent of demand.

· Nagendra ShahThe Nepal Oil Corporation executive director described the effect of the disrupted roads on cooking-gas deliveries.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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