Kathmandu, August 28
The devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi River have caused unprecedented losses to the cargo container trucking business operating along the Rasuwa-Gyirong border and Trishuli corridor, transport operators said.
More than 400 container trucks and over 1,000 people working with them — including drivers, helpers, labourers and traders — are reportedly out of contact after being caught in the floods.
The trucks had travelled to the Rasuwa border point to transport goods for the upcoming Teej, Dashain and Tihar festivals.
Arjun Bahadur Sapkota, president of the Nepal Truck Container Transportation Service, said the whereabouts of the trucks and the people working with them remain unknown after they were swept away by the floodwaters.
According to Sapkota, 966 container trucks are registered with the association. Around 175 of them had travelled towards Kerung shortly before the floods to collect cargo.
More than 400 people associated with those trucks, including drivers, helpers and self-employed workers who own and operate their vehicles, are currently out of contact, he said.
When traders, customs clearance agents and other passengers who had travelled to collect goods are also taken into account, the number of people stranded or missing could exceed 1,000, Sapkota said.
“More than 400 drivers alone are missing. When helpers, traders and customs agents are included, the number is much higher,” he said.
Sapkota said vehicles belonging to transport associations from Narayani, Balkhu, Pokhara-Gandaki and other organisations were also stranded in the flood-affected areas, suggesting that the scale of the damage could be much greater than initially estimated.
Transporters blame customs, checkpoints
Sapkota blamed what he described as impractical rules and delays at customs offices and checkpoints along the route for contributing to the scale of the losses.
He alleged that trucks that had already completed customs procedures were prevented from travelling to their destinations at night and were forced to remain parked along the road.
“Rasuwagadhi Customs clears the vehicles, but the national park checkpoint in Dhunche only allows vehicles to operate from 7 am to 7 pm. After paying customs duties, 70 to 80 trucks were forced to line up along the highway for three or four days,” Sapkota said.
“It was those vehicles, parked unsafely along the road, that were swept away by the landslides and floods.”
He said the losses could have been significantly lower if customs authorities and checkpoints had allowed the containers to proceed to their destinations on time.
40 trucks swept away in Betrawati alone
The transporters have also been unable to determine the condition of containers that had travelled towards Kerung or were still on the Chinese side of the border.
In the Betravati area of Nuwakot, around 30 to 40 container trucks were swept away by the Trishuli River, Sapkota said.
Around 115 container trucks had been parked in the Betravati area before the flood.
“Our colleagues took risks and managed to move many containers to safety,” he said. “But 30 to 40 trucks were still swept away. Some tourist buses that remained there despite repeated warnings were also seen falling into the river.”
Transport operators have urged the government to immediately intensify search and rescue efforts for the workers who remain missing.
