Traffic chaos as Prithvi Highway flooded
TANAHUN:- Travelers are facing significant hardship as the section of the Prithvi Highway that caved in at Dumping, in Ward No. 4 of Aabukhaireni Rural Municipality (Tanahun), has yet to be reconstructed—more than a year after the incident.
With traffic reduced to a single lane at the damaged site, leading to increased congestion, the police have implemented an alternating (turn-based) system to manage the flow of vehicles. Due to the high volume of traffic along the Muglin–Aabukhaireni road section, passengers are frequently forced to endure long delays in traffic jams.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dwarika Prasad Ghimire, the Information Officer at the District Police Office, Tanahun, stated that police personnel have been deployed to facilitate traffic flow, and an alternating (turn-based) system has been implemented for vehicle movement.
According to him, the police are providing necessary facilitation because allowing vehicles from both directions to pass simultaneously on the section of the road that has subsided would cause traffic disruptions. He noted that efforts are being made to manage traffic congestion by allowing vehicles to pass in turns.
The Muglin–Anbukhaireni section of the Prithvi Highway serves as a vital route for vehicles traveling from the capital, Kathmandu, and various other locations toward the western region of the country. With the road having caved in along this section, vehicular movement has been disrupted, causing inconvenience to both passengers and drivers.
The problem keeps recurring because the road has not been reconstructed, even though a long time has passed since it first caved in. The police have stated that they are facilitating the situation to ensure that vehicular movement remains organized and smooth. Rajib Shrestha, Chief of the Road Division Office in Damauli, mentioned that he has been urging the construction company to expedite the work.
He further explained that since the road has caved in again—with six months still remaining in the five-year warranty period—the construction company is responsible for carrying out the repairs.
