The Mechi Highway, which has been blocked by landslides for the past four months, has been reopened. The road near Dhobidhara in Ilam district headquarters, which was torn down by the landslide, has been reopened on Monday evening after repairs. It is said that the repaired road has been opened in a rough manner and one-way road has come into operation.
Chief of the District Police Office, Ilam, Mahendra Shrestha informed that the road has been constructed as a one-way path for the time being to operate cargo vehicles. According to him, it will be easier to operate only in the afternoon as the risk remains. After the landslide on the Mechi Highway, small and large vehicles plying from Taplejung, Panchthar and other places via Ilam to Jhapa and Kathmandu used to pass through Ilam Bazaar. Now, the traffic jam caused by vehicles in Ilam Bazaar is about to be removed.
The paved road under construction has been contracted for about three months and it will take some more time to complete. Division Road Office Ilam is carrying out the road maintenance work. It is said that it will take time to repair the concrete bridge on Mechi Highway.
The road had been blocked since the landslide started on October 2. After the road was blocked, small vehicles were plying unilaterally through Ilam Bazaar. Large cargo vehicles, on the other hand, used to run only at night. Large vehicles from Panchthar, Taplejung and other northern and western parts of the district, such as Dhobidhara, Jhapa and Sunsari, were parked at Zero Kilo and were moving around at night.