District Traffic Police Chief Nand Bahadur Bishst said that the road could not be reopened because the landslide could not be cleared due to the continuous rainfall.
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Due to all-day rainfall on Friday, a landslide occurred in the Gagane stream of Kalikot, blocking the Surkhet-Jumla section of the Karnali Highway.
The highway has been blocked since 5 p.m. on Friday. As the rain has not stopped, it has not been possible to clear the landslide and resume traffic, according to District Traffic Police In-Charge Nand Bahadur Bista. "Once the rain stops, work to remove the landslide will begin early Saturday morning," he said. After the road was blocked, vehicles coming from Surkhet have been stopped at Khidki Jyula. He also said that vehicles coming from Jumla, Mugu, and Kalikot, as well as from Humla, Bajura, and Raskot area of Kalikot along the Karnali Corridor, have also been halted.
Ganesh Shahi of Jumla Hima Rural Municipality-3 said that although he left Surkhet for Jumla at 6 a.m., he had to return and spend the night at Malachaur in Dailekh due to the landslide. "We've been here since the afternoon," he said, "there's nowhere to eat or have snacks, it's a real hardship." He reported that although there is a Department of Roads machine at the landslide site, it has been difficult to work because rocks and soil keep falling from above.
The landslide at Gagane stream in Shubhakali-1 of Kalikot causes trouble every year. Last year as well, from Asar to Asoj, the road was blocked 43 times at the same spot due to landslides. This year, police reported that the road has already been blocked 7 times by landslides since Asar. Two years ago, the Road Division Office Jumla contracted for a gabion wall worth 30 million rupees to prevent landslides at the stream, but last year's landslide washed it away.
