Prithvi Highway Collapse Forces Drivers to Sleep and Cook on the Road as Dashain Nears
After the Prithvi Highway caved in at Gajuri in Dhading, freight trucks and passenger buses heading to Kathmandu have been stranded. With Dashain approaching, drivers and co-drivers are forced to sleep and cook on the main road in Bharatpur.
Chitwan — After the Prithvi Highway was completely blocked when the road caved in at Galchhi in Gajuri Rural Municipality-5 of Dhading, freight trucks carrying food supplies and passenger buses heading to Kathmandu have been stranded. As Bada Dashain approaches, drivers and co-drivers unable to reach their destinations on time have stopped on the main road in front of the Bharatpur Central Bus Park.
A long queue of freight trucks can currently be seen on the main road in Bharatpur.
According to driver Bishal Rajput, who has been stopped since Friday night, trucks carrying rice and essential food supplies for Dashain are stuck in the jam. They have been forced to light stoves and spend the night on the roadside.
‘Dashain and festivals mean nothing to us. Being stranded on the road like this, the high expenses, arranging food, and the lack of public toilets cause us the greatest suffering.’
He said they brought water from a nearby stream and cooked food on the road.
Recalling that they had previously been stranded for long periods at Krishnabhir and other places while heading to Kathmandu, he expressed hope that the blocked road would open soon. Drivers want to deliver food supplies to their destinations in time for the festivals and meet their families before Dashain.
Passengers traveling from Chitwan through Dhading to Kathmandu are also stranded. Traffic police have facilitated passengers stranded at Bharatpur Bus Park heading to Kathmandu to use the alternative route via Hetauda. Police have sent passengers toward their destinations after also settling fares that drivers had not refunded.
Engineer Rajiv Manandhar of the eastern section of the Nagdhunga-Muglin Road Project said the road caved in 70 meters long and 4 meters wide at a point five kilometers from Gajuri toward Kathmandu. He said that since the crack extends to the wall and the road must be opened immediately, back cutting has been started using five excavators, two loaders, and six tippers.