CHITWAN, Aug 13: Road officials have still not begun repairs along the Satrakilo of Narayanghat-Mugling road even a month after a stretch of the road subsided. 

Minor cracks were first visible on the highway on July 5, which is nothing uncommon during the monsoon rains. However, from July 10, one-way vehicular movement had to be stopped because of the severity with which the road was damaged. 

A 28 meters length of the newly-widened Narayanghat-Mugling road has subsided about 1 foot near Gaighat. The site is approximately 17 km from Narayanghat. Following the damage, traffic was made one-way along the damaged section.

Rohit Kumar Bisural, chief of the Narayanghat-Mugling Road Project said the damage has extended to 28 meters length from earlier 20 meters. The rains have further damaged the road, according to Bisural. 

He said that if the road isn’t immediately repaired, it will have to be closed because the damage is getting worse by the day. He said that the rain has weakened the soil, increasing risks of the development of further cracks. Bisural said they had faced similar problem on the road in 2003 as well. “We are facing the same problems we went through fifteen years ago,” he said.

Bed Prasad Gautam, the chief of the District Traffic Police Office, Chitwan, said it has been difficult to manage traffic along the section because of the damage. Heavy vehicles are the most difficult to deal with, he said.

Gautam has said that problems have increased because those responsible for repairs did not do their work on time. Project Chief Bisural however says that the reconstruction work should not be done in a hurry. He said that without a detailed study, it would be impossible to identify the reason behind the subsidence.