On July 24, Man Bahadur Karki set out for his home in ward 9 of Khatyad Rural Municipality of Mugu district from Surkhet after learning that his father was ill. The journey from Surkhet, which should have taken a fraction of time, stretched into gruelling five days due to multiple landslides along the Karnali Highway. Stranded in Kalikot for two days due to road disruption, hoping the blocked road would be cleared, Karki finally decided to start walking from Hulma in Kalikot. After two days of trek, he reached Nagma, where he managed to catch a bus to Gothi Jyula and finally reached home on the fifth day.

“Getting a flight ticket home is nearly impossible, especially during the monsoon season, when flights are unpredictable. I had no option but to endure the pain and hardship of travelling by road,” lamented Karki, who stayed in Surkhet for his further studies. He complained that he spent around Rs5,000 for fares, meals and accommodation.

Similarly, Krishna Bahadur Shahi, a permanent resident of ward 6 Gilagupha Municipality, was on his way to Jumla from Surkhet on August 12 for some urgent work. So he chartered a vehicle and set off for Jumla, but he was caught in a jam after a landslide blocked the highway at Chaukhola area. “I needed to be in Jumla today (August 12) for important work, but I am stuck here in Manma (the district headquarter of Kalikot) due to the road obstruction,” said Shahi who works in a project at Tatopani Rural Municipality in Jumla.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Passengers travelling along the Karnali Highway frequently face problems and hardships, mainly due to road obstructions. On the morning of August 12, a massive landslide at Chaukhola area halted transportation along the Kalikot-Jumla section of the highway. Huge rocks fell on the road, and the authorities could clear the rocks only on the next day, forcing the passengers stranded on the road for more than 24 hours.

On August 9, the Surkhet-Jumla road stretch was blocked by multiple landslides at Ranchuli, Molpha and Phurke areas of Kalikot. Security personnel and employees of the road division office struggled for hours and were able to finally reopen the road in the afternoon the next day.

As per the data available at police offices in Surkhet, Dailekh and Kalikot districts, the 232 km Karnali Highway was disrupted 54 times over the past two months. Vehicular movement was disrupted 44 times in Kalikot, nine times in Dailekh and once in Surkhet.

Karnali Highway runs through the narrow hilly terrain from Surkhet to Jumla in Karnali Province. Several places along the highway are very prone to landslides. The landslides erupt and block the highway when it rains heavily.

“We could easily reach Gamgadhi of Mugu from Kohalpur, Banke, within a day if the highway were in good condition and landslides were not a threat. The road is in dilapidated condition, and landslides frequently block it,” said Bhakta Rawat, a driver who regularly travels the route. “In the rainy season, it is always uncertain when we will reach our destination,” he added.

Floods and landslides in October 2022 severely damaged roads along the Karnali in various places. Although the Road Division Office in Jumla awarded a project contract to upgrade the landslide-damaged roads in 12 different sections, the road condition remains unchanged. The Tallo Dungeshwar-Paltada section in Dailekh and the Daikhola area in Kalikot are in pathetic condition.

Landslides have been a major challenge for safe operation of vehicles along the Karnali Highway during the rainy season. According to the district traffic police offices in Kalikot, Jumla and Dailekh, landslides have occurred in 133 places along the highway since June 9. Kalikot district alone saw as many as 103 landslides during the time period.

“In coordination with the Department of Roads, three excavators have been stationed along the Kalikot section of the highway where landslides are more frequent. The excavators are kept at Pili, Hulma and Gaganekhola areas. We usually clear landslide debris within a few hours, but it is not possible for the excavators to clear the landslide if there are massive rocks” said Ganesh Nepali, chief district officer of Kalikot.