Following the damage, vehicular movement has come to a complete standstill along the section. According to the police, the road section was swept away by the flooded Leuti River. The water-level in the river has significantly gone up making it difficult to seek an alternative route to Dharan, informed the District Administration Office in Dhankuta. [break]
“The river has badly damaged the road section. Immediate repair is unlikely,” informed Chief District Officer Rameswor Dangal. Security personals mobilized in the damaged road section have set up a rope bridge for locals to cross the road. “We had no other option,” said the police.
On Saturday, CDO Dangal, Prem Prasad Bhattrai, an officer of the District Development Committee and Sudarsan Karki, chief of Road Division, had reached the site to assess the damage cause by the flood.
“It might take a few more days to repair the damaged road section and resume vehicular movement. We have to wait until the water level in the river goes down,” said Karki.
The Road Division is currently arranging logistics to control flood damage, informed Karki.
Over 300-meter-long road section from Mul Ghat to Ghante Khola along the Koshi highway have been damaged by the flood. Likewise, dozens of road sections along the highway have been blocked due to landslides.
Hundreds of vehicles have been stranded in several sections of the road. The landslides caused by heavy rainfall have also damaged three bridges.
Some three years ago also, an earthquake-induced landslide had also caused a similar damage in a Kalikot road section of the highway.
Meanwhile, landslides have buried 21 houses and four animal sheds in Budimorang, Mahabharat and Bhedetar VDCs in Dhankuta district on Friday.
Related story
Leuti River flooding damages Koshi Highway in Dhankuta
