Vehicular movement along the Muglin-Pokhara road section of the Prithvi highway that was obstructed after a road section caved in at Aanbukhaireni Rural Municipality-2, Khanikhola on Sunday morning has come into operation.

According to Aanbukhaireni Area Police Office, one-way traffic for heavy vehicles and two-way traffic for small vehicles has been resumed along the road section from 2pm.

The traffic had come to a halt at 10am after a section of the road caved in during road-widening works. As a result, hundreds of passengers were left stranded along the road section.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Yuvaraj Khadka informed that a nearby bridge has also suffered damage.

The road widening works that started last year have failed to achieve the desired progress and are moving at a snail’s pace.

The construction work along the 80km section, to widen the road section to four lanes, is underway by dividing it into two parts—the 41-km Aanbukhaireni-Jamune section in the eastern part and the 39-km Jamune-Pokhara in the western part.

The Aanbukhaireni-Pokhara section of the Prithvi highway, the lifeline of the Gandaki Province, covers 80 km of the 88 km-Muglin-Pokhara road section.

The Department of Roads Project Directorate signed a contract for the construction of the western section with the construction company on May 17, 2021.