Travellers along the Beni-Jomsom road have been stranded, as vehicular movement along the road section has been halted since Wednesday.

Around 30 metres of the road section was swept away by the rain-swollen Rupse waterfall, which is 30 km north of Beni, the district headquarters of Myagdi, on Wednesday.

Earlier in July, the road section was blocked for a month after the flooded Rupse waterfall deposited boulders along the road and swept away a section of it. The district-based authorities had resumed vehicular movement only on August 17 after constructing a new track in the Rupse area.

Hundreds of vehicles loaded with potatoes and apples from Mustang and carrier trucks loaded with food grains and construction materials on their way to Mustang have been stranded due to the road disruption.

“I am heading to Beni with a truck loaded with potatoes. But I have been stuck in Kapre, which is near Rupse, for the last two days due to the landslides,” said Maite BK, a truck driver.

“We tried to open a new track in the Rupse area on Wednesday but it was not possible,” said Indra Singh Serchan, a local supervisor at the Division Road Office. “The new track can only be opened after the water level in the waterfall recedes.”

The Beni-Ghansa road section, which is a part of the Beni-Jomsom road, has witnessed a dozen landslides in the past few days, disrupting vehicular movement along the road.

Meanwhile, the water level in the Begh stream, some 11 km from Beni, has increased to a dangerous level in the past few days, barring villagers from crossing the river to reach Beni.

“There are no bridges over the Begh stream and driving a vehicle across the stream is impossible right now,” said Umakanta Adhikari, chief district officer of Myagdi. “We had to use an excavator to rescue a pregnant woman who had to cross the stream on her way to Beni Hospital on Wednesday.”

For locals living in villages on the other side of the stream, the only way to reach Beni during monsoons is to cross the stream with the help of tractors and excavators. However, the price of hiring such vehicles is steep and not many can afford it, says Bishnu Garbuja, a local of Pokhare at Annapurna Ward No. 6 in Myagdi.

“A tractor charges Rs 50 to carry a person across the stream and Rs 500 for a motorcycle,” said Garbuja. “We were willing to pay the amount to reach Beni on Tuesday but there were no tractors available.”

According to Adhikari, the Division Road Office has not been able to build a bridge over the Begh stream since the stream has been frequently changing its course in the last four years.