Commuters in the eastern hilly districts have faced hours of daily traffic jams, risks, and hardship as floods washed away diversions and delayed bridge construction.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Passengers and drivers have been suffering due to the failure of bridges and diversions built along the main road connecting Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung in the eastern hills. The bridges built on the route connecting these districts are incomplete. The diversions built for convenience in such places are also not durable.
Passengers are having to travel dangerously on the Mechi and Mid-Hill Highways as well as the Tamor Corridor due to rivers and landslides. The Maikhola-Rajduwali section of Ilam along the Mechi Highway connecting Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung has now become dangerous. The Maikhola flood has repeatedly washed away the diversion, disrupting transport services. In Rajduwali, mud and mud have caused traffic jams for hours.
Transport and transportation vehicles are currently operating on a temporary track built at the site of the landslide last year.
As an alternative, the construction of a bailey bridge on the Puwa and Jogmai rivers along the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road was started. However, the construction has not been completed yet. Laxmi Tamang, who has been driving a jeep from Phidim to Birtamod daily, said that passengers and transport entrepreneurs have had to endure the pain of the temporary diversion and the structure being washed away repeatedly by floods. ‘The Ilam-Birtamod journey, which normally takes 6 hours, is now taking up to 10 hours,’ he said. ‘As it rains and floods soon, we have to wait on the road for hours with passengers.’
According to Pawan Bhattarai, Chief of the Road Division Office, Ilam, preliminary investigation has shown that landslides are continuously occurring in the Rajduwali area due to water leakage from the tunnel route of the Puwa river. He said that the road section, which has been facing a problem of subsidence for years, has become risky after landslides started for two years. He said that due to continuous landslides, the manpower and equipment of the road division have to be focused on that area.
He said that even though there are two roads as an alternative to Rajduwali, the problem will continue due to the lack of a concrete bridge. According to him, the construction of a bailey bridge has been taken forward at a cost of about Rs 25 million in Puwa Khola and Rs 32 million in Jogmai. The structural preparation work is currently underway at both places. An Indian technical team is preparing to arrive for the bridge to be installed with the technical assistance of the Government of India. ‘The target is to make it operational by mid-Jeshtha if the rains do not hinder it,’ he said, ‘but since the work has not picked up speed as expected, will the work be completed by the time the monsoon starts?’
The process of installing a bailey bridge has been taken forward at Belase in Maikhola along the Kechana-Kanchenjunga road. As the budget for the bridge, estimated to cost Rs 250 million under the multi-year plan, is not sufficient for the current fiscal year, preparations are being made to install a bailey bridge as a temporary solution. The diversions built in Belasema keep getting washed away by floods.
The diversion has been washed away three times since Baisakh. The diversion, which was rebuilt on Baisakh 21, was washed away that night, causing traffic to be blocked for some time. The road was blocked for a few hours on Jestha 9 due to floods.
The Tamor Corridor, which connects Sunsari's Barahakshetra and Mulghat in Dhankuta to Panchthar and Taplejung via Dharan, has started to face increased risks with the onset of rain. Bridges have not been constructed on the Nawa and Nuwar Howa rivers under the corridor. As soon as the water level rises in these rivers, transport services are disrupted. Due to sudden floods during the monsoon, passengers and transport entrepreneurs are forced to wait for hours.
The situation in the Tharpu-Cyangthapu section of Panchthar along the Mid-Hill Highway is worrying. Travel has become challenging due to the lack of bridges and under-construction roads in areas such as Dobhane Oyam Khola and Falam Khola. The Tharpu-Chiwabhanjyang section of the Mid-Hill Highway has become risky due to the lack of construction work by construction entrepreneurs. Even during normal rains, transport and transport services are disrupted, and the problem becomes more serious after floods.
