ROLPA, July 20: Incessant rains have badly damaged the roads in Rolpa district bringing vehicular movement to a halt. This has affected people's movement to and from several remote villages. Motor vehicles have not been able to reach several remote villages since the past one month, according to locals.
Roads linking Lawang, Ghartigaun, Oat, Rangsi, Talawang, Holeri and roads linking Dang remain blocked. Similarly, roads in Mirul and Thawang have also been damaged at several places.
In the eastern part of the district, most of the roads remain blocked for a long time. The roads to Sulirchaur, Gam, Jelwang, Fuliwan, Aresh, Jutungkohoa and Powang, are among those blocked.
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Tej Bikram Shahi, president of Jaljala Yatayat Transport Entrepreneurs Committee said that the Department of Roads has turned a deaf ear to their repeated pleas to clear the roads. “Our buses are in the garage for the past several months. This happens every monsoon,” he said. “We have invested millions of rupees on new buses but such blockage cause us huge losses,” he added.
Meanwhile, the division office of the road department claimed that the office is doing its best to clear the roads. “We have deployed technicians to clear the blockages on the road linking Liwang and Ghartigaun. They are working,” said Suresh Neupanne, chief of the division office at Chakchake said. “Hopefully, the road will reopen soon,” he added.
According to Ram Kumar Neupane, information officer at the District Coordination Committee of Rolpa, total length of roads/dirt roads in Ropla is 600 kilometers and during the monsoon movement along most of these roads is affected.
According to Kashiram Dangi, a local journalist, transporat service in Rolpa has not improved since the past one decade. Even though dirt roads have been constructed, they cannot withstand monsoon rains. So they remain unusable during the rainy season,” he said.