Relentless rain has triggered landslides, damaged roads and disrupted travel across several parts of Nepal, with a section of the Prithvi Highway near Malekhu emerging as a particularly dangerous stretch as a river erodes the road from below.

Mud and small landslides have blocked parts of the highway at Krishnabhir, Chalise near Gajuri and near Khatauti river, forcing traffic to move in one direction at a time.

The situation is especially precarious at Parewa Bhir, near Malekhu, where debris continues to fall from the hillside while the river erodes the road below. Vehicles face a high risk while passing through the stretch, said Tula Chaudhary, chief of the Armed Police Force’s dependent unit in Dhading.

Traffic is currently being managed with the coordination of security personnel. Excavators deployed by the road construction project are working to clear mud and landslide debris, but continued rainfall and fresh slides have made it difficult to keep the highway fully open. Police have urged drivers and passengers to exercise caution when travelling through vulnerable sections.

In Kavre district, waste and debris from a stone quarry washed into a settlement in Chalal Ganeshsthan, ward 4 of Bethanchok Rural Municipality, damaging homes and a cattle shed.

One house was buried under mud and quarry debris, while a cattle shed collapsed. Run-off flooded two other houses, washing away household belongings.

According to Assistant Sub-Inspector Sitaram Khatri of the Khopasi Police Post, a single-storey house belonging to resident Sher Bahadur Tamang, built of stone and mud with a corrugated metal roof, was buried under debris up to its roof. Water and mud also entered another three-storey house belonging to Tamang, carrying away household belongings.

A cattle shed belonging to Hark Bahadur Tamang collapsed, while run-off entered the ground floor of his three-storey house and damaged stored goods.

Two families have been affected. Their members had moved to relatives’ homes early in the morning. No casualties or livestock losses were reported.

In Gorkha, the Budhigandaki river has swept away a temporary diversion at Khorlabesi in ward 3 of Dharche Rural Municipality, cutting off the Larke road once again.

The road had been reopened after an earlier flood damaged the Khorlabesi-Lusyāng section by constructing a temporary diversion. But the river rose after rainfall began on Friday night and washed away around 20 metres of the road, making even pedestrian passage impossible, said Laxman Gurung, chair of Dharche Rural Municipality.

The section forms part of the Benighat-Aarughat-Larke road, which was damaged by the Budhigandaki flood on October 11. The latest damage has again severed road links between three wards of Dharche and Chumnubri Rural Municipality.

Gurung said the temporary road had been rebuilt using stones and gravel after the earlier flood. The river has now shifted to the side on which the temporary route was constructed.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall has blanketed the high-altitude areas of Taplejung in eastern Nepal following a change in weather that began on Friday.

Khambachen, near the base camp of Mount Kanchenjunga, has received heavy snow, said Man Kumar Limbu, member-secretary of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council.

Domestic and foreign trekkers on the Kanchenjunga trail have been held up in settlements including Khambachen, Ghunsa, Phale and Pangpema. Residents said rain began on Friday, with snowfall starting on Saturday morning.

In Khotang, persistent rain has forced organisers to suspend the ongoing seventh Solma Football Tournament at the Solma sports ground until Sunday after water accumulated on the pitch.