न्यूज अभियान
हरेक खबर विशेष खबर

Baglung, Oct 9: Direct transportation has come to a grinding halt for the past 12 days after flooding swept away the access road to Maldhunga Bridge, the main checkpoint for entering Baglung. 
Its visible impact has been experienced on tourism, trade, and normal life of ordinary people. 

It may be noted that the flood-fed Kaligandaki on last September 27 washed away the access road to the bridge towards Parbat, disrupting regular road connections between Baglung and Parbat. 
The main road to Myagdi and Mustang via Maldhunga is blocked, which has affected Baglung's tourism business. 
For tourists visiting different destinations, it serves as a gateway to Baglung. 

Hotel entrepreneur Angel Shakya said this is the season seeing a surge of tourists in the hotels, bu it has remained quiet. 
"There is no main road; how can tourists come? Road connections with Mustang are completely cut off," he shared, adding, "The later the bridge resumes, the more hotel owners suffer."
Few tourists are coming through alternative routes. Until the road to Mustang and the Maldhunga bridge open, there seems to be a huge loss in the hotel business. Maldhunga is also an important junction of the Mid-Hill Highway, which goes through the Kali Gandaki corridor connecting India and China as well as the hilly region, so roadblocks here have affected movement to Baglung and the western region. 

Alternative routes have increased transportation costs. Since the main road is blocked, passenger buses and small cargo vehicles are now operating via alternative routes from Falebas–Balewa to Baglung and Maldhunga–Beni to Baglung. 
Business owners commented that using longer alternative routes has increased both transportation time and costs. 
This has directly started affecting the prices of daily consumer goods. 

Gas seller Hari Acharya said that using alternative routes for gas transport has added an extra transport cost of Rs 150 to Rs 170 per cylinder. 
After transport costs increased, he had to raise the market price of gas by Rs 100.
After the road was blocked and supplies could not arrive on time, problems have started appearing in the supply of vegetables and other food items in Baglung. 
The supply of petroleum products, grains, clothing, and other consumer goods has not been regular. 

The main road being blocked has affected not only the daily life of the public but also health services. 
People with serious illnesses and those needing regular treatment who have to go to Pokhara are now forced to use alternative routes or walk some distance. 
The Road Division Office in Pokhara had sped up work to open the access road to Maldhunga Bridge before Dashain. 

About 30 meters of the access road were damaged by floods, and repair and restoration work is ongoing. Krishna Raj Adhikari, head of the Road Division Office in Pokhara, said that with the festival approaching and the supply of essential items like grains and gas being affected in Baglung, work is ongoing round the clock to get the bridge operational. 

After damage caused to the 114-meter-long access road to Maldhunga Bridge, regular road connectivity between the two districts has been disrupted.

Traffic going toward Baglung as well as East Rukum and Rolpa has been affected after connecting to the Mid-Hills Highway through this route. Once the bridge starts operating, it is expected that the long-affected trade, tourism, and daily essential supplies will gradually become easier. -