Night travel ban along Beni-Jomsom route extended

BENI, MYAGDI: The night travel ban along the Beni-Jomsom road section has been extended to September 16.

The local authorities had previously banned the night time travel from July 20 to August 31 for the sake of travellers' security following intermittent landslides along the Myagdi and Mustang sections.

The rise in the water levels in the river has also forced the extension of the ban until September 16, said District Administration Office, Myagdi, which also issued a warning against using the route during the prohibited hours.

A Transport Management Committee meeting presided over by Chief District Officer Krishna Prasad Adhikari, took the decision to extend the night travel ban until mid-September. The security bodies and the transport entrepreneurs also gave their consent for enforcing the ban.

Of the 76-km route, the sections along Myagdi and lower Mustang are deemed the most risky. The commuters are forced to take risk due to the continuing landslides at Guinthebhir and Kavrebhir of Dana in Annapurna Rural Municipality-3 and Mustang's Thasang Rural Municipality-4.

"Multiple landslides are creating problems along the Myagdi road stretch," Beni-Jomsom Road Project Supervisor Indra Singh Sherchan shared. He added that the authorities are facing tremendous difficulties in clearing the landslide debris at Begkhola strech in Raghuganga Rural Municipality-1 as well as Guinthebhir and Kavrebhir sections.

Last year, the flooded Begkhola swept away a Bailey bridge, which the local authorities are yet to replace with a concrete bridge. The delay has been creating unwarranted troubles for the commuters. The road obstruction has also caused difficulties for pilgrims heading towards Kagbeni of Mustang for Sorhasraddha rituals and obstructed the supply of Mustang's juicy apples.