Floods, landslides leave Bardibas deserted

By Rabindra Upreti,Bardibas, Oct. 12: At a time when the town should be bustling with activity during major festivals, Bardibas in Mahottari district wears a deserted look. 

Bardibas, located at the crossroads of the East–West Highway, BP Highway, and Postal Highway, depends heavily on road connectivity for its livelihood. 

However, the recent floods and landslides, which damaged key roads, have disrupted transport and deeply affected the area’s economic and social life.

The situation has particularly hit the hotel and tourism sector, regarded as the economic backbone of Madhes Province.  Gunja Karki Gopal, president of the Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs’ Association, Mahottari has said that road damage has caused a severe decline in hotel business.

“This is supposed to be our peak season but the hotels are empty. The stoves are cold and workers are jobless,” he lamented. Association’s general secretary Narayan Ghimire said Bardibas has around 250 hotels, employing over 1,200 people. 

Normally, these hotels serve meals priced between Rs. 100 and Rs. 550 and cater to about 1,500 customers daily. “Now, most hotels are empty,” he said.

Binod Thapa, who runs the Khukuri Hotel at Bardibas-3, Gauridanda, shared how his daily rice consumption has dropped drastically.

“Before the floods, we used to cook 18 kilos of rice a day, enough for 80 to 90 customers; sometimes we even had to cook more,” he said. “Now, even after cooking just five kilos, there’s left over food.” The hotel shutdown has had a ripple effect on the agricultural and dairy sectors too. 

Bardibas has four wholesale shops that sell potatoes and onions. When hotels were running, these outlets used to sell about 80 quintals of potatoes and 20 quintals of onions daily. 

Now, the sales have plummeted to just five to seven quintals of potatoes and two to three quintals of onions per day.

Hari Sah, owner of Om Namah Shivaya Traders, said, “Because of the drop in demand, I had to throw away 10 quintals of potatoes and five quintals of onions that rotted in the store room. The roads are still blocked and more may rot soon.”

Similarly, Purushottam Bhattarai, operator of Om Shanti Dairy, said that the 32 registered and unregistered dairies in Bardibas, which previously used to sell 2,500 to 3,000 litres of milk daily, now sell only about 1,000 litres.

The reduced consumption of meat, vegetables, pulses, rice and fruit has also affected local farmers, who supply produce to the hotels.