Editorial | Safety first

Recently, traffic came to a halt along the Kanti Highway due to a landslide in Ghattepakha of Makawanpur district.

 

After the disaster, as always, government authorities struggled to scramble resources for clearing the debris for the resumption of traffic. 

Even the ‘minor’ incident mentioned above must have caused inconveniences to thousands of people.

 

Looking back, some of the other disasters this wet season were catastrophic, not only because of their intensity but also because of a lack of preparedness on the part of the government.

 

The Simaltal bus plunge is one such disaster. 

 

On July 12, two buses carrying over 60 people—Nepali and Indian nationals—plunged into a rain-swollen Trishuli river due to a landslide in Simaltal (Chitwan district) along the Narayangadh-Mugling road. Per reports, construction of a track on a fragile terrain just above the stretch had triggered the landslide that consigned the buses bound for Kathmandu from Birgunj and for Gaur from Kathmandu to the river.

After the disaster, the government mobilized security personnel for the search and rescue mission. Later on, rescuers from India also joined in the mission, deploying two large magnets to search for the buses.

But these efforts failed to locate the buses and many of the passengers. This shows our institutional capacity (or lack thereof) in dealing with disasters. Government issues orders after disasters, forms inquiry commissions, security personnel risk their lives in line for rescuing the stranded people, but they cannot do much without adequate training, tools and techniques. 

The government needs to address this gap in the long run.    

With the festive season already in the air, lakhs of people will be leaving the Kathmandu Valley for their ancestral homes via road, including the East-West Highway, amid forecasts of a rain-soaked Dashain. 

Heavy traffic during the festive season is sure to put our roads under tremendous strain. Learning lessons from the past, government authorities should take measures like constant monitoring of roads, debris removal on a regular basis, and repair, maintenance and construction of retaining walls for a safe surface travel. It is also their responsibility to make sure that passengers are not packed like sardines in a tin can and that they are not fleeced at the hands of unscrupulous transport companies.