Road Department Cuts New Track to Reopen Flood-Hit Prithvi Highway

Nepal’s Department of Roads has begun cutting a new route around a landslide on the Prithvi Highway, seeking to restore traffic on a key road linking Kathmandu with the country’s western districts.

Excavators are working from both ends of the landslide site at Krishnabhir, and workers have opened about 50 metres of a temporary track. Sajana Adhikari, chief of the Malekhu-Muglin road section, said the route was being built above the landslide so vehicles could eventually pass.

The first section is currently wide enough only for excavators. Workers also cleared trees on Thursday to prepare the area for construction. The Malekhu-Muglin section has been blocked since Sunday, forcing vehicles travelling to and from Kathmandu to use alternative highways.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has approved immediate and long-term measures. Authorities plan to build structures above a gabion breast wall, install “sacrificial gabion boxes” and drop boulders from the hillside to help stabilise the area. For a permanent solution, the department is studying a tunnel, soil nailing and sheet piling.