Landslides and floods have damaged the foot trail linking Chhekampar and Chumchet in Chumanubri Rural Municipality, Gorkha, to the rest of the district.

In mid-July, floods in Budhigandaki river had damaged the Manaslu foot trail, cutting off Chhekampar and Chumchet from the district headquarters and disrupting food supply. Floods in the river had also swept away around a 100 metres of the foot trail leading to a cantilever bridge built along the cliff of Yarubagar in northern Gorkha.

Chumanubri is still disconnected from road networks and its residents rely on mules to carry food grains and daily essentials.

To ease the supply of food to Chumanubri Rural Municipality, authorities built a temporary trail in mid-August.

However, on August 17, a landslide occurred at Duyukhola in Lokpa, damaging the temporary foot trail and cutting off the two villages yet again. Food shortage is looming large in Chhekampar and Chumchet, as the villagers are once again facing difficulties in transporting daily essentials due to the disruption of the foot trail.

“Mules loaded with daily essentials have been stuck in the Lokpa area since the landslide,” said Lopsang Lama, a resident of Chumling. “People’s movement along the foot trail has come to a halt. A cantilever bridge in Sardibhir has also been damaged by the landslide.”

Earlier, villagers of Chhekampar and Chumchet used to buy daily essentials from the Chhekampar border point connecting Tibet. However, the border point has remained closed since the Covid-19 pandemic.

After the disruption of the Manaslu foot trail, the villagers have started using an alternate track along the Larke road section. But using the track during the monsoon is risky, as villagers have to cross streams along the trail that get flooded by rains.

“It is also very dangerous to pass through a waterfall in the Tarebhir area when it is raining,” said Dilip Gurung of Dobhan.

According to him, the foot trail between Tatopani and Dobhan has been disrupted for several weeks after the flooded Budhigandaki river swept away the trail in two places.