The Kodari Highway, which connects to the main trade route with China at Tatopani, has been reopened to traffic since Monday afternoon. The road was cleared of landslides in five locations, including Kodari and Irku in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-2.
A team including Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and Urban Development Kulman Ghising, Ministry Secretary Keshav Sharma, and Director General of the Department of Roads Bijaya Jaishi inspected the road condition.
During the inspection, the team also met with residents of Irku, one of the areas most affected by the landslide, to discuss ways to reduce risks to the settlement and long-term technical solutions for keeping the road permanently operational.
There was initial resistance from locals to remove the debris brought by the landslide, as the road to the main trade hub with China was closed during festival season. After this, Minister Ghising called the ward chairman and local leaders of Bhotekoshi-2 to his residence last Wednesday and requested their cooperation and assistance in reopening the road.
With the road now open, hundreds of containers carrying goods for the Dashain festival that were stuck at the border have started to move.
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