The Araniko Highway has been blocked after a landslide caused a road collapse at Ikhu in Kodari. This location is situated in ward no. 2 of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality, has seen the road repeatedly open and closed due to continuous landslides.
Rameshwar Karki, Chief of the Sindhupalchok District Police Office, informed that the highway has now been completely obstructed due to recent landslide damage.
“The road, which was reopened on Monday afternoon after being blocked since early Sunday, is again completely closed from early Tuesday,” said Karki. “Efforts are underway to reopen the highway.”
On Monday, 32 empty containers were sent toward China after clearing the landslide debris. However, another landslide on Tuesday morning blocked the road again, leaving the containers stranded, according to Buddha Raj Basnet, President of the Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Frequent road closures have impacted not only the transportation sector but also traders and businesses.
“We sent 40-foot containers to China on Monday. But just when we expected containers to return on Tuesday, the road got blocked again,” said Basnet.
Currently, the Road Division Office Charikot, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and local businesses related to the border trade are actively working to reopen the road.
“We’ve mobilized excavators, tippers, and dozers along the Araniko Highway, particularly at the border areas. Since the roads are frequently blocked by floods and landslides, we’ve been using our own resources to clear them,” said Amit Kumar Shrestha, Chief of the Charikot Road Division Office. “These problems remain throughout the monsoon. Permanent work will begin after the rains end.”
After the Bhotekoshi River’s flood damaged the road in the Rasuwagadhi area, traders began importing goods via Tatopani. But the poor condition of the Tatopani road has left them frustrated. Locals report that the road is barely walkable even for pedestrians.
Since the 2015 earthquake, the Barhabise-Kodari section of the Araniko Highway has frequently suffered landslides and collapses, causing immense difficulty for traders and residents alike.
Due to falling rocks and mud during the rainy season, Nepal Police has urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel on this route and to take precautions if travel is necessary.
Rural Municipality calls for landslide management
Meanwhile, Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality has drawn the attention of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport regarding landslide management at Ikhu, part of the Kodari section of the Araniko Highway. A team including Rural Municipality Chairperson Pasang Nurbu Sherpa submitted a memorandum directly to the ministry.
With the onset of the monsoon, frequent landslides have been blocking this critical road, which is the nearest route connecting Nepal with its northern neighbor, China. The municipality has requested the ministry to prioritize work on this route.
With the Rasuwagadhi border point closed, pressure has increased on the Araniko Highway. Traders headed to China, pilgrims en route to Mansarovar, and goods stranded across the Miteri bridge are all currently relying on this route to travel to and from Kathmandu.
Although road closures have long been a problem, the lack of response to demands for proper landslide management has hindered safe and regular transport. The municipality noted that daily movement of thousands of tourists, hundreds of cargo containers, and passenger buses and jeeps has been severely affected, also impacting the state’s revenue collection by millions of rupees.
The municipality also stated that the landslides have put settlements in the upper regions at risk. There is an increasing threat of a major disaster at any time.
Due to delays in road construction and maintenance, the development of the entire rural municipality, district, and even the nation has been adversely affected. The municipality has called for immediate control and reconstruction of the Ikhu landslide site and has demanded adequate budget allocation for the same.
