A bus bound for Tikapur of Kailali district from Jumla overturned at Athbis Municipality-3 of Dailekh on Friday afternoon, disrupting Karnali Highway for hours. The eight injured people were taken to Surkhet for treatment.

The vehicle carrying 32 people ploughed into the roadside wall on the safe side. According to Top Bahadur Mahatara, chief at the District Traffic Police Office in Dailekh, the bus’s brakes had failed.

On November 10, a passenger jeep crashed at Raduneta of Palata Rural Municipality-3 in Kalikot district, killing seven people and injuring 13 others. The five-seater Mahindra Bolero was carrying passengers far beyond its capacity.

More accidents followed. As many as 45 people were injured in two road accidents along Karnali Highway the next day (November 11). On November 8, four people died while 25 others were injured when a bus crashed at Ratanal of Birendranagar Municipality-14, Surkhet.

This spate of road accidents in Karnali has terrorised passengers as well as drivers even as remote villages’ access to road transport is growing. According to the Provincial Police Office in Surkhet, 12 people died and 132 others were injured in 17 accidents in Karnali in the second week of November alone.

As per the data available at the Provincial Police Office, 48 people were killed in road accidents in Karnali Province in the current fiscal year (2024-25). Police said a total of 666 people died in such accidents over the past five years in Karnali.

With accidents recurring on highways and road stretches, the provincial hospital in Surkhet is often overwhelmed with injured people. And a helicopter at the Nepal Army’s western air wing in Surkhet is quite busy rescuing those injured in road accidents.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Dangi, who is also the spokesperson for the Provincial Police Office, Surkhet, most road accidents happen due to overload, narrow and poor road conditions, reckless driving, overspeed and poor condition of old vehicles.

“The cause of most road accidents in Karnali is the sheer negligence of drivers and passengers. What happens when 32 people ride on a five-seater jeep? Passengers should also be careful to avert accidents,” said Dangi.

The number of deaths in road accidents in Karnali are alarming. According to the Provincial Police Office, Surkhet, 97 people were killed in accidents in the fiscal year 2019-20 while 98 people died in 2020-21. Similarly, 180 people died in the fiscal year 2021-22, 131 in 2022-23, 112 in 2023-24 and 48 in 2024-25.

Locals blame police and other authorities for their failure to prevent road accidents. Dinesh Thapa of Birendranagar said the police and the district administration offices were mainly to blame for Karnali’s insecure roads.

“It is not enough to blame the poor state of roads. The authorities should monitor the fitness of vehicles, the carrying capacity of vehicles and whether the drivers are licensed,” said Thapa. “The vehicles are carrying passengers beyond their capacity. Who is responsible for controlling this?”

Police, however, claim that their efforts are not enough. “Transport workers hoodwink security officers by registering fewer passengers at check posts. They ask some passengers to get off the vehicle and walk when they get near security posts. Only the police cannot control road accidents. Transport workers and passengers should also do their bit,” said Superintendent of Police Apilraj Bohara, chief at the Surkhet Traffic Police Office. Traffic police are undertaking a campaign to remove the seats installed in the vehicles beyond their capacity.

Transport workers, however, have their own concerns. Drivers say they cannot turn away passengers as the remote areas of hill and mountain districts lack enough vehicles to ferry villagers. “Only one vehicle runs through some places in a day. People insist on getting on an already packed vehicle. They stop our vehicle the next day if we deny them a ride,” said Madan BK, who drives a bus to Kalikot district.

Karnali is the biggest and remotest province in the country, with steep and rugged terrain. Karnali Highway is the major road network in the province. Most road accidents occur along the 232-km-long highway stretches from Bangesimal in Surkhet to Khalanga in Jumla.

Then-prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala had laid the foundation stone for the highway in 1992 but the track was opened only in 2007. The highway was blacktopped eight years ago but the asphalt has come off in most places.

“Rather than mechanical faults and human errors, the main cause of road accidents in Karnali is the poor state of roads. Karnali Highway, Rapti Highway, Mid-Hill Highway and other road sections should be widened and upgraded at the earliest. Otherwise, the problem of road accidents will get worse,” said Deputy Inspector General Janak Bhattarai, chief at the Provincial Police Office, Surkhet.