Vehicular movement between Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchok district and the China border has been disrupted since past one week after the road surface started caving in at places like Liping, Kodari and Ghatte.

The highway section was damaged by the rainfall in mid-June and was repaired a month later. But the repaired highway lasted only for a few days before the surface started to develop cracks and cave in.

“Workers and technicians are making efforts to repair the damaged section of the highway,” said Bijaya Kumar Mahato, chief at the Division Road Office in Charikot.

The road repair work, however, has not made much progress due to continuous rainfall and landslides.

Mahato said rainfall and landslides have also put the settlements in Upper Kodari and Chauki Danda at risk.

Every monsoon season, the highway section gets damaged by landslides and erosion caused by rain-swollen Bhotekoshi river.

“The land keeps on caving in near Liping bridge and along the road in Kodari area. The Tatopani border point is also yet to come into operation because the highway is not safe for vehicles,” said Dipendra Kumar Shrestha, the ward chairman of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-2.

Narad Gautam, the officer at Tatopani Dryport and Customs, said that dozens of container trucks have been stranded in the Miteripul area as the highway section has been rendered impassable.

Meanwhile, four families at Syakhule settlement in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-4 have been displaced due to a landslide threat.

Around 30 households at Lalbirchowk and Maklo Tamang Gaun of Kodari area are also at high risk, local residents say.

“The land above the settlement has developed cracks and the road below the settlement is also sinking. The settlement is at high risk. We have urged the authorities concerned to protect the residents,” said Phunu Sherpa, a resident of Kodari.