Gurkha. After the avalanche blocked the Ungilung river and opened it, the flood on the 25th of October in Budhigandaki caused great damage to the lower coastal area of Gorkha.
Due to the activism of the local residents and the rural municipality, temporary bridge construction and road repair work is still going on in the flood-affected areas. Similarly, the Chum Valley road, which has been closed for 15 days, has been temporarily opened since Sunday due to the activism of the locals.
Chairman of Chumanubri Rural Municipality, Nima Lama, said that by constructing four wooden bridges in Syar Khola, people and cattle can move in Chum Valley. Chum Valley traffic was stopped when the flood swept away the cantilever bridge located in Chumanubri Rural Municipality-6.
According to the information received from the District Administration Office Gorkha, one hundred and eight houses of Chumanubri, Dharche and Arughat Rural Municipality have been damaged by the flood. Similarly, six suspension bridges, two motorized bridges, one Beilibridge, two cantilever bridges in Yaru and Sardi have been washed away by flood, according to the details of the administration office. After 16 days of the incident, the residents of the affected area are working round the clock to heal the wounds caused by the flood.
“There was no other alternative way to go to Chum Valley, so the work of cleaning the road and building a bridge started from the day after the flood occurred, he said.
He said that the rural municipality is working to bring the blocked Benighat-Arughat-Larke road into operation in coordination with the army and the Gorkha road project. Benighat, Arughat, Larke roads damaged by Budhigandaki flood have been restored up to Kalobhir. Information officer Ashiq Rizal informed that the Gorkha road planning office is going to resume work for 15 consecutive days till dark.
According to him, the section from Arkhet to Dobhan is being opened by the Road Planning Office and the section from Dobhan to Salleri is being opened by the Nepali Army. The Gorkha Road Planning Office started the work of opening the road from the day after the flood. The Nepali Army is trying to open the road from Saleri in Chumanubri to Jagat Bagar. The army’s road construction task force said that the road maintenance work in that section is complicated.
Ramsagar Yadav, the chief soldier of the task force, informed that it will take a few more days to remove the more than five feet deep mud piled up by the flood in a one and a half kilometer section. He said that people, carts and motorcycles can reach Pangsing within a few days. According to the Road Planning Office and the Nepali Army, work has been done in coordination and cooperation with Chumanubri and Dharche Rural Municipality.
Earlier, Dharche and Chumanubri Rural Municipality have deployed the local residents and opened a footpath for people to walk. Local residents have been working day and night to repair the road washed away by the flood of Syarkhola after the Ungilung landslide and build a road to connect the village.
After the flood washed away the Belibridge and hanging bridge connecting Ward No. 1 Hulchuk from Dharche Rural Municipality-3 Dobhan, the locals built a wooden bridge there. Only on Monday, the construction work of the Kathe bridge was completed and traffic resumed.
Within a few days after the flood, the residents of Dharche had also built a road leading from Ward No. 3 Khorlabeshi to Tatopani. From Khorlaweshi to Kerauja, there was also the work of transporting food by hanging electric wires.
Due to the activism of the local youth, the road from Kholobensi to Jagat has been removed and a path has been prepared for people and khachadas to walk. Lakshman Gurung, the president of Dharche, said that to avoid the immediate problem, the work of transporting food through drones has also been done in that area. Similarly, the Sirdibas Uhia small hydropower project which was damaged by floods was resumed in four days.
The bridge of Arughat, which was swept away by the flood, was also repaired in six days. Traffic has been resumed by adding a belay bridge to immediately restore some parts washed away by the flood. The bridge connecting Gorkha and Dhading was jointly maintained by the Gorkha Road Planning Office and the Nepali Army. Since Monday, large vehicles including tippers have been plying there.