Mid-hills Highway: Khurkot-Ghurmi section opens for one-way traffic

KATHMANDU: The Khurkot-Ghurmi section of the Mid-Hills Highway has reopened for one-way traffic from Thursday.

The 61-kilometer road section had been closed since Saturday after floods and landslides deposited debris in various locations.

Four excavators worked from both ends of the road section to clear the debris after the rain subsided, officials say. Two excavators cleared debris from the Khurkot side and another two from the Ghurmi side.

Jwala Prasad Neupane, vice-chairperson of Golanjor Rural Municipality of Sindhuli, told RSS news agency that the road has been opened for one-way traffic through the coordination of the Mid-Hills Road Project, and Golanjor and Fikkal rural municipalities.

The road section was opened for traffic after excavators cleared landslide debris at the Kalia Aanp area on Thursday afternoon, according to Neupane.

The reopening of the road section has restored connections with eastern hilly districts like Okhaldhunga, Udayapur, Sindhuli, Solukhumbu, and Khotang, among others.

Vehicles coming to Kathmandu from these districts, however, will have to take a detour toward Makwanpur as the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport said earlier in the day that the Khurkot-Dhulikhel section of the BP Highway is unlikely to open for vehicular traffic before the Dashain festival.

The main festivities of Dashain begin in a week.