Following landslides in over two dozen places along the highway in Dang, Salyan and Rukum districts, vehicles have stopped plying the road, leaving hundreds of locals facing hardship.
There has been a deluge of landslides in the Tunibot, Aaringale, Salle River, Chor Khola and Shankhamul road sections of Salyan district, informed police.
Nepal Army and police are jointly working to clear the landslide rubble, but only 25 percent of the work has been completed so far, informed Salyan District Police Office.
Police conjectures that the highway may reopen after two days if the clearing up is not obstructed by rain.
After bulldozers were unable to dislodge huge boulders from the Tunibot road section, security personal on Saturday used three explosions to clear the section.
Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers have become stranded after vehicular movement could not come into operation from Tulsipur, Dang to Salyan, Rukum and Rolpa districts for the past six days. Passengers have been forced to walk some four kilometers and change vehicles after the landslide blocked the road at the Salle River.
“Everywhere, the road is covered with landslides. Walking along the highway is risky as landslides may occur any time,” said a passenger.
Passengers shell out Rs. 50 per person to cross the Salle River. Likewise, supplies of essential daily commodities have also been stranded. Vegetables worth Rs. 3 million are decaying in Kapurkot, Salyan due to the highway blockage.
The vegetables were bound for Dang, Salyan and Rukum districts. Trucks carrying vegetables have been stranded on the highway for the last six days.
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