A passenger bus en route to Mustang from Kathmandu was stuck in a landslide at Baisari Raghuganga Rural Municipality-2 along the Beni-Jomsom road section on Wednesday morning. Small boulders and mud struck the bus with 27 passengers on board at around 5am in the landslide-prone Baisari.

A couple of minutes after the bus driver and the conductor helped the passengers evacuate from the vehicle, another mudslide hit the bus leaving the window panes smashed and the roof caved in.

At around 7am, an excavator was brought from the Beni-Jomsom road upgrade project to clear the mudslide debris.

The 38-km-long Beni-Lete stretch of the Beni-Jomsom road is at high risk of landslides. Passengers and transport workers using the road section are often heard sharing their ordeals that they had survived landslides by a whisker.

“We arrived at Baisari landslide at around 5am. The road was clear. But just when we had reached Baisari, the bus was caught in a landslide,” said Anil Bishwakarma, the driver’s assistant. “We safely rescued the passengers on time and averted a possible disaster. Such risky incidents happen quite often along the road section mainly in the monsoon season.”

The Beni-Lete section that runs along the Kaligandaki River has been severely damaged by landslides at various places with the beginning of monsoon this year. Baisari, Galeshwar, Begkhola, Tatopani, Jalthale, Rupse Chhahara and Latakhola areas are often hit by landslides.

“The Beni-Ghasa section is prone to landslides. Landslides have been occurring in several areas since the beginning of the monsoon season this year. Sometimes it takes three-four days to cross the 38-km stretch due to road disruption by the landslides,” said Indra Singh Sherchan, a local of Raghuganga-2. “Muktinath pilgrims and tourists are hugely affected by the frequent landslides,” added Sherchan. According to him, the landslides at Baisari and Rupse Chhahara are very dangerous and could kill people if not controlled immediately.

Andhagalchhi area, according to geologists, is quite prone to rockslides due to erosion of the Kaligandaki River that flows between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains. The road upgrade work of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road under the Kaligandaki Corridor is underway now.

“Around a 15-km long part of the 38-km long Beni-Lete section is in very difficult terrain. Work is ongoing to design a 350-metre-long tunnel in the Bhirkate area. We are studying about 10 landslides along a two-kilometre section,” said Jagat Prajapati, chief of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala Road Project.

“A separate environment conservation programme is necessary for controlling the landslides along the Beni-Lete section. The road project will also carry out works to control landslides in the area this year,” said Prajapati.

The construction and upgrade work of the 186-km Beni-Jomsom-Korala road commenced around six years ago. The 76-km Beni-Jomsom stretch was divided into four different sections and the work was contracted out accordingly. But the construction has not been moving at the desired pace due to various problems including landslides and difficult terrain.