Main Highway Closed After Bhotekoshi Flood, Difficulty Delivering Relief via Alternative Route

18 Bhadra, Kathmandu.

Due to the main highway being blocked by the Bhotekoshi flood, volunteers and travelers carrying relief materials have faced hardship as they are forced to use an alternative road to Rasuwa.

With the main road closed, vehicles carrying relief materials to Rasuwa are using an alternative route through Chhahare, Bahunbesi, Saramthali, Patikharka, and Ghichet. However, due to the deteriorated road, congestion in places, and the difficult terrain, even those carrying relief materials are facing problems.

According to volunteer Shailendra Panthi, they were going to Rasuwa with relief materials in seven vehicles. However, due to the difficult road conditions, one vehicle could not proceed and had to be turned back, and its contents were distributed at a holding center further down, he said.

‘We are currently heading to Rasuwa with relief materials. There are seven vehicles. One vehicle couldn’t make it, so we sent it back. We distributed the contents of another at a holding center,’ Panthi said.

According to him, they are not working through any organization or formal body but are collecting and delivering relief materials to the affected areas as volunteers.

‘It is very difficult. We are not from any organization; we are purely volunteers collecting and distributing relief materials,’ he said.

Panthi stated that there is also heavy traffic congestion on the alternative route that came into use after the main highway closed. Vehicular movement has been particularly affected because the road has deteriorated in the Ghichet area.

It has also been reported that volunteers and other individuals trying to reach the affected areas with relief materials have had to turn back halfway due to the difficult road conditions.

After the Bhotekoshi flood, with the main highway blocked, the traffic volume has increased on the alternative road to Rasuwa. Due to the poor and narrow condition of the road, even vehicles carrying relief materials are finding it difficult to reach their destination.

For More: Bhotekoshi Flood Main Highway