Prithvi Highway collapse leaves Pokhara tourist buses idle as air traffic soars

Pokhara’s normally busy tourist bus parks have fallen quiet after a landslide blocked the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir. About 150 buses serving the Pokhara-Kathmandu route are now idle, while passengers have rushed to the skies.

Jashoda Subedi, spokesperson for Pokhara International Airport, said 1,300 passengers travelled between Pokhara and Kathmandu on August 25. After floods in the Bhotekoshi River on August 26 triggered erosion along the Trishuli River and damaged the highway, air traffic jumped. On Friday, more than 3,500 passengers used 28 Buddha Air flights, 18 Yeti Airlines flights and four Shree Airlines flights.

“Passenger loads had fallen after the Prithvi Highway improved, so airlines would merge flights or operate with relatively few passengers,” Subedi said. “Now occupancy has risen sharply. Flights are packed, and tickets are difficult to get.” Airport records show that traffic on the route can reach 4,400 passengers a day during peak periods such as Dashain and New Year.

“

Passenger loads had fallen after the Prithvi Highway improved, so airlines would merge flights or operate with relatively few passengers. Now occupancy has risen sharply. Flights are packed, and tickets are difficult to get.

At Mustang Chowk, where buses normally operate from early morning until late at night, only services to Chitwan and Lumbini are running. Buddhi Sagar Paudel of the Prithvi Highway Bus Operators’ Company said 24 buses previously departed for Kathmandu in the morning and eight at night. Additional buses left from Prithvi Chowk, Lamachaur, Hemja and Zero Kilometre.

The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents’ Gandaki chapter has inspected an alternative route. Under one proposal, passengers would travel by bus to Krishnabhir, walk across a suspension bridge to Jamire, take a jeep for about 11 kilometres to Benighat, and transfer to buses coming from Kathmandu. A diversion track is being built at Krishnabhir and officials say it should operate within a week, though its durability remains uncertain. The disruption has affected nearly 1,000 tourism businesses and workers just as the tourist season begins.

“

A diversion track is currently being built at Krishnabhir, and we have been told it will be operational within a week. But it is unclear how long it will withstand traffic once it opens. If the main road remains unusable for a long period, the Jamire-Benighat route could be an alternative.