After about a hundred tourist vehicles got stuck in the upper reaches, the administration is determining whether or not the old road along the Kaligandaki River can be reopened.
The road from Kagbeni, a famous pilgrimage site in Mustang, to Upper Mustang has been blocked due to incessant rain. Landslides have occurred in places along the 15-kilometer stretch of the Kagbeni-Chhusang road section of Waragung Muktikshetra Rural Municipality.
Road transport, electricity and phone services have been disrupted since last Friday, but phone services have been operational since Sunday morning, said Mustang Chief District Officer (CDO) Bishnu Prasad Bhusal. ‘Phones have been working since this morning. Landslides including mud have flowed in about 10 places up to Chhusang, making it difficult to remove them,’ he told Ikantipur.
He said that the first removal work is being done using 5 large machines. Due to the lack of alternative routes, tourists who have reached Lomanthang, Damodarkunda, and the Korala checkpoint on the Nepal-China border are facing problems returning.
Most of the tourists who went to Upper Mustang last Thursday have stopped there. Some tourists have reached a place where they can reach by vehicle and are returning to Kagbeni on foot, said CDO Bhusal. According to him, 559 tourists had gone to Lomanthang before the road was blocked. ‘Some tourists have returned after crossing the mud with the help of police and locals. Some have carried bikes,' he said, 'There are still 400 tourists in Chhusang and the upper part.'
He said that it will take at least two days to clear the landslide with the debris. After about a hundred tourist vehicles got stuck in the upper part, the administration is identifying whether the old road along the Kaligandaki River can be opened. 'Before the current road was built, the Kaligandaki used to run along the Bagrai-Bagar route. We are looking into whether that old route can be used,' he said.
The Jomsom-Kagbeni-Muktinath road was also blocked for two days due to continuous rain. Traffic was stopped after a landslide with debris fell in Pandav Khola in Gharpajhong Rural Municipality-4. After the efforts of the police, public representatives and locals, the road has been opened in one direction at the site of the landslide and has been operational in one direction since Saturday.
Sudeep Acharya, the owner of Namaste Tours, who has been continuously updating the situation in Mustang on social media, said that there is no problem going to Muktinath now. He said that the road has been opened in one direction in 3/4 places. "The road has been opened from the corner where the landslide occurred and made it one-way. There is no problem going to Muktinath," he said.
