Vehicular movement has been resumed on the Narayangadh-Muglin road section from 11:50 am Wednesday after the landslide debris on the road at a place called Charkilo was removed.
Information officer of the Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project, Shiva Khanal, said the landslide debris was removed with the help of two dumpers and an excavator.
The landslide had occurred at Charkilo at 6.30 this morning, blocking the highway.
According to Khanal it has been almost impossible to prevent landslide at Charkilo as the soil at the location was loose and mixed with pebbles. He added that the place is prone to mudslides even in situations of slight rainfall.
Khanal said that although landslide prevention works are underway in other sections of the road, the mudslide prevention techniques used at these places do not seem to be working at Charkilo.
Traffic along the road section was halted for 11 hours on Tuesday due to landslide at this place. The road was opened for vehicles at 4 pm after clearing the landslide debris.
Passengers are facing inconvenience due to the frequent obstruction of the road by landslides and the traffic jam that takes place even after the road is opened.
Alternative route advised for Narayangadh-Muglin road section
Meanwhile, the district authorities have urged the drivers, transport entrepreneurs and commuters to use alternative route to the Narayangadh- Muglin road as this road section has frequently obstructed due to landslides.
This advisory by the district authorities comes in view of the constant risk posed to life and property due to the frequent occurrence of landslides. Moreover, passengers have to wait for long hours by the time the landslide deposit on the road is removed and traffic is resumed.
Drivers and commuters would not have to take risk of the Narayangadh-Muglin road if they took the trouble of taking a bit longer journey to travel to and from Kathmandu.
Still, it appears that drivers and people alike do not like to travel a little longer to avoid the risky journey along the Narayangadh-Muglin road. Sometimes, it takes so long time to remove the landslide debris and open the road that passengers have to spend the night in their respective vehicles without any food.
The Narayangadh-Muglin road section is 36 kilometers and is normally an hours' drive. However, it takes much longer due to the obstruction caused by mudslide.
The suggested alternative routes to Kathmandu from vehicles coming from west Nepal is Butwal-Palpa-Syangja-Pokhara-Muglin route. It is 150 kilometers' travel from Butwal to Muglin via Narayangadh. The alternative route is 233 kilometers.
Similarly, Kathmandu-bound vehicles from eastern Nepal could use the Tribhuvan highway from Hetauda to Naubise. It is 146 kilometers from Narayangadh to Kathmandu via Muglin and 187 kilometers from Hetauda to Kathmandu via Naubise (Tribhuvan highway).
Chief of the Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project, Rohit Kumar Bisural said it would help a lot in reducing the risk on the Narayangadh-Muglin road section if the alternative routes were to be used.
More than 10 thousand vehicles ply on the 36-kilometers Narayangadh-Muglin road daily. This road is considered the lifeline road connecting the capital Kathmandu with the other parts of the country.
