Gyurme Lama, a local of Chhekampar in Gorkha’s Chumnubri Rural Municipality-7 crosses the 800-metre Lokpa Bhir foot trail at least twice a week. He uses the trail to get to villages such as Chumchet in Ward 6 to buy daily essentials. But he gets scared every time he makes the journey; he worries about his unstable footing on the trail and the risk of getting hit by falling rocks from above.

Lokpa Bhir in Chumchet in Ward 6 of the rural municipality is a landslide-prone area. For the last two years, the trail has seen multiple dry landslides from the cliff above.

“I am extremely careful when I am walking the trail,” said the 40-year-old Lama. “I have to coordinate my movement because the soil is loose and if I lose my footing, there is nothing to stop me from falling off into the Budhigandaki River below. Frequent landslides have made the area dangerous. I have to watch out for rocks falling from the cliff above.”

The trail is used not just by the locals of the rural municipality, but also by trekkers and hikers, says Lama. “This trail is a disaster waiting to happen,” he said. “If the landslide is not controlled soon, the coming rainy season will be difficult for us and those who come to this trail.”

Lokpa Bhir is the entrance to Tsum Valley in Chumnubri, a popular tourist destination.

Bibek Pandit, a local tourist guide, says the last two years have been difficult for the local tourism market. “The dry landslide started some two years ago and since then we haven’t been able to bring trekkers,” he said. “We can’t bring them here given the risks. But what is more worrisome is the locals have no choice but to use this trail.”

According to Saroj Lama, ward chairman of Chumnubri-6, due to continuous landslides in Lokpa, locals suffer especially during the monsoon season when the trail becomes unusable. “In the last rainy season, the trail was completely closed due to landslides,” he said. “The locals transporting daily consumables on mules were unable to transport food to the villages for three months.”

The rural municipality has made temporary foot trails for the locals to use, but during the monsoon season, those trails also become unusable, Lama said. “We need to find a permanent solution to prevent landslides along the trail. We will have to fortify the trail, but the rural municipality alone cannot do this for a lack of resources,” he said. “The landslides are getting bigger and bigger every year. We have been reaching out to the higher authorities for their attention for the past two years but no one has come forward to help us.”

A cantilever bridge was constructed in 2016 along the Lokpa Bhir trail but by 2021 the bridge had become unusable after the Budhigandaki River washed away the approach path. The unseasonal rains of mid-October 2022 and flooding of the river swept away around 100 metres of the foot trail on the southern side of the bridge following which temporary repairs were done. “The cantilever bridge is the only way for the local mule transporters to supply goods to villages in Chumnubri Rural Municipality. “We repaired about 20 metres of the bridge at a cost of Rs1.8 million so that the locals can at least cross the bridge. Fencing work on the bridge is still underway,” said Saroj.

Locals of 19 settlements in Chumchet and Chhekampar villages of Chumnubri Rural Municipality use the cantilever bridge along the Lokpa Bhir. The rural municipality is still disconnected from the national road network and local residents still rely on mules to carry food grains and daily essentials.