Lack of repair makes Karnali Highway dangerous for commuters

By Nabin Subedi, Surkhet, Jan 3: Passengers commuting through the Karnali Highway, which was heavily damaged due to food and landside last year, are facing grave difficulty due to a lack of timely repair. The highway is now open for the operation of vehicles but is in a dangerous condition. 

The highway is filled with dust and potholes and now passengers traveling through Surkhet to Karnali look unrecognizable because of the dirt and dust. 

The Road Division Office has opened the highway for now, but the lack of restoration has worsened the already bad state of the highway. 

Travelers are found complaining about the lack of effort of the government in restoring the highway by allocating the budget which was destroyed in the previous winter season. Commuters from Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Humla, and Dailkeh are facing grave difficulty silently due to lack of a properly functioning Karnali highway. 

No other budget rather than the regular budget from Road Division Office, Jumla and Surkhet is allocated for repairing the highway. 

The lack of a well-functioning highway has increased the risk of accidents on the highway. Mainly, the road section of Kalikot and Dailekh is in worse condition. 

Rajiv Shrestha, Chief of the Road Division Office, Jumla, said that work is underway to improve the road section of Kalikot, Humla, and Mugu of the Karnali highway. Even though restoration work is underway in the road section but it was heavily destroyed so it will take time to restore it to its normal condition. 

According to the Road Division Office, Jumla, the 26 kilometers road from Kalikot to Serabada is filled with landslide debris. 18 kilometers of the total 93 kilometers of road from Nagma to Gamgadi of Kalikot was destroyed by the landslide last year. 

He said that Pili of Kalikot, Sera Bada, Bhikma, and Bali faced a heavy landslide last year. A new road has been made for operation as the flood swept away the whole road last year. 

Travelers are compelled to commute in dirt and dust in the winter season because of the landslide on the Dailekh road section of the Karnali highway in the previous winter season.