Traffic has resumed via a diversion route after a bridge collapse disrupted a key section of the East-West Highway in Nawalparasi East district, police said on Tuesday.

The Chormara bridge, located near the town of Kawasoti, collapsed at around 10pm on Monday, halting traffic along the Narayanghat-Butwal stretch, about 42 kilometres west of Narayanghat.

“Vehicles are now being rerouted through a diversion road south of Chormara Bazaar, near Nawajagaran Campus,” said Superintendent of Police Yadav Dhakal. Priority is being given to small and passenger vehicles, he added.

The bridge, built in 1974, showed signs of structural failure before bending and collapsing, prompting authorities to shut the route. The incident comes five months after a similar collapse of an iron bridge at Dumkibas in the same district.

The Mahendra Highway is Nepal’s main east-west arterial road.