The Kanti Highway has been blocked since 1am on Thursday after a landslide swept away a section of the road near Baguwa in ward 8 of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality, Makawanpur, following heavy rainfall on Wednesday night.

“More than half the road has collapsed–only motorcycles might barely pass. It’s impassable for other vehicles,” said Police Inspector Vidya Sagar Mehta of the Thingan Area Police Office. “It could take the whole day to reopen the highway, but we can’t say for sure.”

The police said excavators are being prepared for the clearance operation, but the entire roadbed has been washed out and will need to be rebuilt from the base.

This same stretch of the highway was closed for five hours on Wednesday due to another landslide.

Vehicles travelling from Hetauda to Kathmandu are stranded in Thingan, while those heading towards Hetauda from Kathmandu have been stopped on the Lalitpur side of the Bagmati bridge.

Meanwhile, in Taplejung’s Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-6, heavy overnight rain triggered flooding that swept away two motorable bridges and a wooden bridge used for vehicular movement in Lelep.

“The flood in the Thakpa river has terrified villagers,” said Sonam Sherpa, operator of Changa Hotel. Ward Chair Pemba Tashi Sherpa said the destruction of the bridge linking Lelep and Lawajin village has severely disrupted mobility.

The flood also swept away the canal supplying water to the Thakpa hydropower plant, cutting off electricity to wards 3 to 7 of the former administrative structure. The swept-away bridges were built by the ward office, and the electricity was produced in coordination with residents.