Key Takeaways:

• Safebagar–Martadi road blocked at Karagar Mod, Selagad, Subakandha and other points
• Patients carried on stretchers as vehicles cannot pass
• 32 electricity poles toppled, cutting power since Saturday night
• Prices of essentials rising amid prolonged transport disruption
• Road clearance efforts ongoing with JCBs and excavators
• Technical teams deployed to restore 33-kV transmission line

BAJURA, SEPTEMBER 8 Patients being referred outside Bajura are having to be carried on stretchers as landslides have left the district headquarters Martadi cut off from the road network and without electricity for three days. Continuous rainfall since Saturday evening triggered landslides at several locations, blocking the Safebagar-Martadi road and damaging the electricity transmission network, severely disrupting daily life across the district. According to the District Police Office, landslides have blocked the road at Karagar Mod, Binod Smriti Pratikshalaya, Selagad and Subakandha in Badimalika Municipality-9 and other locations. The road has remained impassable since Saturday night. Police said JCBs and excavators were deployed from Sunday to clear the debris, but efforts by the Road Division Office and Badimalika Municipality had yet to restore traffic as of Monday. Chief District Officer Dorendra Niraula and District Police Office chief DSP Shaileshwari Bohara have also been monitoring the clearance efforts in the field.

The disruption has particularly affected emergency healthcare. Patients needing treatment outside the district are reportedly being carried because vehicles cannot pass the blocked road. Prices of daily essentials have also increased following the prolonged disruption in transport. 32 power poles knocked down The rainfall-triggered landslides have also brought down around 32 poles of the national electricity transmission line, cutting power across Bajura since about 9:00pm Saturday. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority's Bajura Distribution Centre, seven poles were brought down by a landslide at Subakandha and another 25 in the Birakhola-Nunepani area. A technical team has been deployed since Monday to repair the damaged line. Security personnel have also been mobilised to assist with the restoration of electricity, according to CDO Niraula.

The 33-kV national transmission line from Achham to Martadi supplies electricity to the district. The prolonged outage has left households, including those in Martadi, without power and disrupted services at government and non-government offices as well as other electricity-dependent activities. Heavy rain and landslides have also caused significant damage at several locations in Badimalika Municipality, according to local authorities.