Most of them attend a school at Kirne, located near the district’s border with Dolakha. Locals said they are keeping a constant watch over the 3 kilometre area of the cliff for the safety of their children. “I thought I would be killed when rocks started falling,” said Sajan Khadka, who was returning home from the school on Thursday. “I narrowly survived.”

According to Madhav Dahal, a local resident, rockslides have not stopped at the cliff but the schoolchildren have no alternative way to their school. “There is always an uncertainty whether kids who leave for school in the morning will return home safe,” he said.

Locals said they have pleaded with the army, police and Himal Power Limited, which operates the Khimti I Hydropower Project, to clear the rocks that are about to fall at the cliff, but to no avail. The Department of Roads has classified Khimti-Kirne road as the third most risky section for travellers in the district.

Locals are particularly dissatisfied with Himal Power Limited’s sheer indifference over the issue.

“The company has taken no action despite the school being situated within the project area,” local Shyam Shrestha said. They have, however, removed some stones which were posing a threat to the project office, he added.

Though people can take a longer route travelling through Devitar after crossing the Ambas Bridge, but the path is no less dangerous. Roads sections in Jalpadevi and areas beyond the cliff are also witnessing continuous landslips.

n A section of the Khimti-Kirne road in Ramechhap.