The landslide of Tuinkhola caused grief to those leaving Kathmandu this time during Dasain. The Narayangadh-Muglin road is the main road connecting the federal capital Kathmandu and the tourist city of Pokhara with the East-West Highway. At other times, more than 10,000 small vehicles ply on this road during Dasain.

But at this time, the vehicle was stuck for hours due to the landslide of Tuinkhola. Engineer Arjun Ghimire of Bharatpur's Division Road Office said that Narayangadh-Muglin road was closed for 160 hours from August 28 to October 18, despite the Tuinkhola landslide and no landslide. Closed at night due to 14 hour security . Otherwise, this road was closed for a total of 160 hours after 146 hours on 21/22 due to the landslide," said Engineer Ghimire.

Since October 18, no landslides have been heard in Tuinkhola. But engineer Ghimire requests, "When you arrive at Tuinkhola, you should be careful and stop the vehicle as much as possible and consider if the stones have fallen/not fallen". Engineer Ghimire said that about 28,000 cubic meters of stone and soil fell down from the mountain behind the road several times.

There are still large stones stuck in the wings that can fall . It's not like those rocks and rocks will fall immediately. But you have to be careful," Ghimire said. A big landslide occurred in Tuinkhola on October 3. Due to the landslide, after about 45 hours, the one-way road that was opened from the evening of October 5th was blocked again on the afternoon of October 7th after a large landslide. Due to these two landslides, this road was closed for about 150 hours according to the division road office.

Study to find a permanent solution

Division Road Office Chief Narayan Prasad Lamichhane said that the study to find a permanent solution to the Tuinkhola landslide has started. The team of expert Madhusudan Acharya sent by the road department came to the landslide site on October 21. Lamichhane informed that the team has returned after the study and based on the findings of the team, the prevention work will proceed. The problem of landslides started in Tuinkhola three years ago.

Two years ago in Asar, the road was blocked for 28 hours continuously due to a landslide at the same place in Tuinkhola. Last year there was no big problem in Tuinkhola, this time there was a big landslide . A study was conducted last year to prevent landslides in Tuinkhola. A prevention plan was also made based on the same study. Anchoring and netting is the permanent solution to the Tuinkhola landslide. Last year we said we would do it but the work could not start . This year there has been an even bigger landslide . The area and the condition of the guard have also changed, so we are going to make a plan after further study,'' Chief Lamichhane said.

By August, landslides were falling from 70 meters above the road in Tuinkhola. The length of the landslide in the road area was 160 meters. Chief Lamichhane said that although the length is the same now, the height has almost doubled. Therefore, the cost is likely to increase. It was estimated that the cost of Tuinkhola alone for landslide control work would be around 4.5 million rupees till last year . He said that with the increase in the size of the landslide, the cost may double.

The road office has a plan to take down the loose rocks and soil that are in danger of falling on the road. Chief Lamichhane said that anchoring and rock netting work will be started after cleaning loose rocks and soil. Anchoring is the work of piercing those rocks and connecting them to the hard part of the mountain by placing strong rods and concrete so that the rocks seen outside do not fall on the road.

In the same way, the method of covering the mountain valley with a special metal net to prevent small stones from falling down is called netting . Lamichhane, head of the Division Road Office, says that only after these two works, the problem of Tuinkhola will not be solved. It may take 6 to 9 months to complete after starting the work . Therefore, if the work starts this winter, it will be possible to travel safely during the coming winter, he said.

There is a risk of landslides elsewhere

Although this time Tuinkhola landslide has attracted the attention of many people, the risk of landslides in Narayangadh-Muglin road section is not only in this place . There is a risk of landslides not only in this place but also in other places. The risk is not less near Namsi bridge towards Narayangadh, about three kilometers west of Tuinkhola . One person died after being hit by a stone at this place. A technician from the road office was injured.

According to the information received from the Chitwan District Police Office, on the evening of August 31, a stone fell from the hill near Namsi Bridge and hit a bus coming from Tanahun towards Narayangadh. Due to which Aishwarya Kami of Lamjung who was in the bus died. The machine operator who was trying to clean up the landslides in Tuinkhola was also hit by stones in Namsi .

According to the information given by the Division Road Office, machine operator Raju Magar was injured by a stone on Namsi Bridge on October 8. Namsi also has a problem. "It is not as big as Tuinkhola, but there should be landslide control work," said Lamichhane, head of the division road office. Although not as large as Tuin and moderate as Namsi, landslides have also occurred in several other places . This time there was also a landslide in Kalikhola. There is also a problem around 17 kg . Even though the trees are bare, there are several places where small landslides have started to fall. "There will be control work everywhere this year," Lamichhane said.

Not only small and big passenger buses but also the main road for cargo trucks to Kathmandu is here . That is why the Narayangadh-Muglin road is called the lifeline of the capital Kathmandu. Therefore, when traffic is stopped due to landslides on this road, not only the passengers will suffer, but also the supply system of the capital will be affected .