Manthali. The flood has damaged a concrete bridge over the Bhatauli rivulet, which connects the district headquarters Manthali with Khandadevi, Doramba Shailung and Sunapati rural municipalities and is an alternative route to Kathmandu. Nepal Army and Armed Police Force (APF) have been trying to open the road after the movement of large vehicles was stopped due to erosion.

The movement of large vehicles has come to a complete halt after the flood caused by incessant rain on Friday night cut off the bank of the bridge towards Pakarbas. A portion of the road connecting Manthali municipality-7 and Khandadevi rural municipality-4 has been damaged by a rivulet. Chief District Officer Shyam Krishna Thapa told RSS that vehicles other than two-wheelers have been stopped from plying. “Efforts are on to open the way. ’

A team comprising State Assembly member Ananda Shrestha, Chief District Officer Thapa and chiefs of district-based security agencies made an on-site inspection and directed the concerned agencies to repair the bridge. Kedar Prasad Dhungel, a local, said that the structures built by the rain on Friday night were also washed away. Ward chair of Khandadevi rural municipality-4, Krishna Poudel, said that the situation has come due to the negligence of the authorities concerned after the erosion started in the river.

The bridge connecting three rural municipalities of Ramechhap with the district headquarters Manthali has also been used as an alternative route to Ramechhap-Kathmandu. Several vehicles from Dolakha, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga had travelled to the capital through this route after the khurkot bridge was washed away last year. Vehicles carrying more than 15 tonnes of load on the Khurkot bridge are entering manthali, the district headquarters, through this route and moving to different parts of Kathmandu and Tarai.