The landslides and floods that severed a crucial section of the main highway linking Kathmandu with the rest of Nepal have forced authorities and businesses to improvise alternative routes to supply the Capital.

The disruption on the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir in Dhading has snapped the main road to Kathmandu, but essential supplies including petrol, diesel, cooking gas, vegetables, medicines and drinking water are still reaching the Capital through alternative routes.

Under temporary arrangements, large passenger buses and freight vehicles entering Kathmandu must use the Tribhuvan Highway, while those travelling towards Hetauda are required to take the Kanti Lokpath. Vehicles carrying fewer than 14 passengers can enter Kathmandu Valley through Bhimphedi, Kulekhani, Sisneri and Dakshinkali, and use the Pharping-Phakhel-Kulekhani-Bhimphedi route for return trips.

Seven days after the road was washed away, authorities opened a 252-metre track at Krishnabhir, temporarily reconnecting it to the highway. Bijaya Jaisi, director general of the Department of Roads, said substantial work remained before normal traffic could resume in about a week. The track was opened by the Nepal Geo-Technical Society. Engineers cut into the hillside rather than along the river to reduce the risk of further flooding.

Krishnabhir has long been prone to landslides, with repeated disruptions in the late 1990s and a major slide in 2000 that took about a week to clear. The latest damage occurred on August 30, when the Trishuli river eroded the rock below the road, swallowing a key section of the way to Kathmandu.

Fuel tankers are routed from Hetauda through Bhainse, Palung and Naubise before entering Kathmandu. Liquefied petroleum gas, meanwhile, is being brought in from plants in the southern districts after refilling cylinders there and transporting them in smaller trucks.

Petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplies have not been affected, according to Nagendra Shah, executive director of Nepal Oil Corporation.

Cooking gas companies in Bara, Parsa, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Nawalparasi, among other districts, have been supplying cylinders to Kathmandu but LPG deliveries remain below normal levels. About 24,500 cylinders entered the Kathmandu Valley on Thursday and 34,134 on Friday, according to the corporation.

“We have not been able to meet the demand for gas,” Shah said. “We are currently meeting around 60 to 70 percent of demand.”

Thaha Municipality in northern Makwanpur, one of the country’s major vegetable-producing areas, is sending an estimated 300 to 400 tonnes of vegetables to Kathmandu each day through the Tistung-Palung section of the Kanti Lokpath, according to Rajendra Bidari, northern Makwanpur chapter chairman of the Nepal Fruit and Vegetable Entrepreneurs’ Association.

But the disruption to two-way traffic has complicated distribution to other parts of the country.

With the Tribhuvan Highway operating in only one direction under the temporary arrangement, vegetables from major production hubs have had difficulty reaching markets in the Terai, Bidari said.

The disruption has also created a huge mismatch between farm-gate and retail prices. While consumers in Kathmandu complain of higher vegetable prices, farmers in some production areas are being forced to sell at lower prices because their regular market has been inaccessible.

The Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board, Kathmandu’s main wholesale market authority, said supplies from nearby districts remain largely uninterrupted.

Ramesh Dangol, a planning officer at the board, said vegetables from Dhading, Nuwakot, Kavre and areas around Hetauda were continuing to reach the Valley by smaller vehicles via the Kanti Lokpath.

Although the shelves in Kathmandu have not been emptied, consumers and retailers say the transport disruption has started affecting prices.

Amul Kaji Tuladhar, general secretary of the Retailers’ Association, said traders were raising prices even when stocks of many food items remained normal.

“There is no shortage of goods. They are readily available, but prices seem to be increasing,” Tuladhar said.

The government has stepped up market inspections to prevent traders from exploiting the situation through hoarding, artificial shortages, excessive pricing or the sale of substandard food.

The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has deployed 10 special inspection teams in Kathmandu Valley. Between August 30 and September 3, officials inspected 108 locations and took action ranging from warnings to fines against businesses found to be lacking proper documentation, selling expired goods or charging excessive prices.

Officials have also intensified inspections in flood-affected districts.

The Food Technology and Quality Control Division Office in Damauli has been inspecting markets and testing relief supplies in Tanahu, Gorkha and Nawalparasi East, among other districts.

Some food items prepared for aid were found to have expired, officials said. These included 21 sacks of Current chips, Giridhari Food Products and Butwal bhuja, as well as two packets of Chocofun and a 5 kg packet of Chakki flour.

Authorities in Dhading have also stepped up monitoring in coordination with local governments, the district administration, the Nepal Police and the local chamber of commerce.

Laxmi Pandey (Gautam), chief district officer in Dhading, said some shortages of LPG had been reported but officials were working to ease supplies through alternative routes.

“We are facilitating supplies through alternative routes in order to prevent black-marketering,” she said.

She said inspections had not found violations that require punitive action despite complaints from consumers.

Consumer-rights activists, however, find huge lapses in Nepal’s disaster preparedness. The government lacks a clear picture of the country’s essential-goods supply chain, they say.

Consumer rights activist Madhav Timalsina said market inspections were necessary, but the government also needed to publicly disclose how much food and other essential goods were in stock, where they were coming from and how long supplies would last.

“The government should have shown the urgency needed after the floods disrupted the supply chain,” Timalsina said. “It should inform citizens about the stock of essential goods and reassure them that prices will not rise.”