Nepali Army begins blasting work to reopen flood-damaged Prithvi Highway in Dhading

Dhading, September 13, 2026 — The Nepali Army has begun blasting work to clear a severely damaged section of the Prithvi Highway at Shital Bazaar in Dhading after the Trishuli River eroded the road following the Rasuwa floods.

The road at Shital Bazaar has sunk after a large section along the river side was washed away. As immediate reconstruction of a retaining wall was considered impractical, an engineering team from Kaliprasad Battalion under the Nepali Army's Madhya Pritana has been mobilized to carry out controlled blasting.

The objective is to remove the unstable and damaged section and create a new road track so that vehicular movement can resume. The Army's technical team is working on the site to develop a route that can be used to restore traffic along the affected highway section.

The heavy flooding in the Rasuwa area on August 26 caused the Trishuli River to swell, resulting in extensive erosion at several points along the Prithvi Highway. Road damage at Shital Bazaar, Krishnabhir and Parewabhir in Dhading has seriously disrupted travel between Kathmandu and Chitwan as well as Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Technical assessments have found that the damage at Shital Bazaar is particularly severe because a substantial portion of the road has been eroded toward the river. Officials say conventional repairs would not be sufficient to reopen the section immediately, prompting the decision to reshape the damaged area through blasting.

The Prithvi Highway is a vital transport corridor linking Kathmandu with districts and major commercial centres across the country. Prolonged disruption has left passenger and freight vehicles stranded for extended periods, affected the movement of essential goods and forced travellers to seek alternative routes.

The floods have also triggered landslides and road collapses at multiple points along the highway. Excavators and other heavy equipment are being used to clear damaged sections, while technical assessments are underway for alternative routes and temporary road arrangements at high-risk locations.