Authorities have started clearing landslide debris from the rural roads in Ramechhap district to resume vehicular movement during Dashain.

A majority of the rural roads were damaged due to multiple landslides that occurred during this monsoon. Vehicular movement along various road sections has come to a halt due to uncleared landslide debris.

Ramesh Kumar Basnet, mayor of Manthali Municipality, said that rural roads in all 14 wards were being repaired. “Workers have intensified repair works using excavators. Landslide debris has been removed from almost all road sections,” he said.

Ramechhap Municipality, Doramba, Gokulganga, Khandadevi, Sunapati and Umakunda Rural Municipalities have prioritised repairing the damaged roads. Talak Thapa Magar, a native of Doramba, said that the locals too had started lending a hand to construction workers in clearing the debris to ease vehicular movement during festival time.

According to the District Administration Office data in Ramechhap, the landslides triggered by monsoon rains have obstructed vehicular movement along 3,000km of the rough road in the district. Only 35 km of road that links Manthali and 13 km of road that connects Ramechhap have been blacktopped yet.

Chiefs and deputy chiefs of the local units have taken initiatives to clear the damaged road sections for traffic.

The Local administration and District Police Office (DPO) also have been continuously monitoring the vehicles plying the roads for the safety of passengers.

Santosh Kumar Bhattarai, police chief at the DPO, said that public vehicles are only permitted to operate on good roads. “We are inspecting bus park area and vehicle stand for public safety,” said Bhattarai.

Meanwhile, the local administration has urged the public not to take risks while travelling as seasonal rains continued longer than expected. Chief District Officer Lila Kumari KC Pandey requested vehicle operators to drive their vehicles carefully along dirt roads.