Rain disrupts vehicular movement; Home Minister directs to shift people to safer places

Kathmandu / July 06: Vehicular movement has been disrupted along several highways and road sections in several parts of the country as roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall since late Friday.

Vehicles have been blocked on the Syangja and Waling road section along the Siddhartha Highway. The authorities have halted vehicles along the route as workers were trying to clear the debris on the road.

A landslide close to Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-2 has disrupted BP Highway in Kamalamai, Sindhuli.

Heavy rainfall has blocked the Sisneri-Dakshinkali section of the road, affecting transportation between Hetauda and Kathmandu.

In Lalitpur district, road sections from Tribhuvan Rajpath to Pangjure near Bhattedanda are blocked and the authorities said they are working to resume regular traffic there.

Bhimphedi-Fakhel-Matatirtha road section has been disrupted due to obstruction near Indrasarovar Rural Municiplity-5 in Makwanpur district due to heavy rain.

In Lamjung, the Besisahar-Dumre road is closed for now due to a landslide triggered by incessant rainfall. Authorities said they are actively working to resume vehicular movement between Lamjung and neighbouring districts.

Traffic along the Ghorahi-Tulsipur road section of Dang district in the mid-western part of the country has also been disturbed.

Several parts of Madhesh have been inundated due to continuous rainfall. Various areas of Birgunj Metropolitan City including Chhapkaiya, Bazar Chhapkaiya, Ghadiarwa, Ranighat, Shreepur, and Nagawa have been flooded.

Efforts are underway to manage water levels and clear debris in affected areas.

Meanwhile, residents near rivers and streams in Belbari, Morang district in the eastern part of the country have been alerted due to increased water levels in local rivers.

In the west, Karnali Highway is blocked near Humla Bazaar of Kalikot district due to landslides in various places and that has affected transportation between Surkhet and Jumla districts.

In Palpa, major roads like the Aryabhanjyang-Rampur Road, Tansen-Ridi Road, Kaligandaki Corridor, and Siddhartha Highway have been affected due to several landslides along the roads. The Bartung area near Tansen, Kalimati, and the Dumre-Charchare section are particularly affected, while efforts are being made by authorities to clear the debris and resume obstructed traffic.

Home Minister directs officials to shift people at risk to safer places

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has directed the bodies concerned to make arrangement to immediately shift the households which are vulnerable to disaster to the safer locations.

During an emergency meeting held at the Home Ministry today, Home Minister Lamichhane asked the high-level officials and chiefs of security agencies to address the disaster-related incidents immediately so as to fulfill the state’s responsibility.

On the occasion, the security bodies briefed the Home Minister about the situation so far. DPM Lamichhane urged the Command Post and respective District Administration Offices to prevent the loss of lives and property and ensure availability to food stuffs and clothes for the disaster victims.

“Our duty is not fulfilled by only relaying information to the general people about the details of loss. It is important that how we have been carrying out activities to reduce loss “, he stressed, adding it is the time to implement disaster preparedness plan, directives and procedure in practice.

Political parties, respective bodies and others were already urged to support the implementation of disaster preparedness, DPM explained.

Home Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Inspector General of Nepal, Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force Raju Aryal, and the high-ranking officials of the Nepali Army were present in the meeting. RSS