KATHMANDU: Main roads that had been blocked due to continuous heavy rains have reopened starting today.

Traffic has resumed on the Mechi Highway, the Pushpalal (Mid-Hill) Highway, and the Tamor Corridor, all of which had been disrupted by floods and landslides.

The Rajduwali section of the Mechi Highway in Ilam, which connects Taplejung, Panchthar, and Ilam in the eastern hills to the Terai, reopened this morning.

Pawan Bhattarai, Chief of the Road Division Office in Ilam, said that after minor repairs on Sunday morning, the road was opened for small vehicles. However, considering the risk, the road had been closed overnight.

The Panchthar–Dhankuta border section of the Tamor Corridor, which connects the eastern hills to the Terai via Dharan in Sunsari, also reopened today.

Previously, vehicles could not cross the Nawa Khola area due to high water flow.

Anil Kumar Karna, Deputy Superintendent of Police at Panchthar District Police Office, confirmed that the road has been repaired and opened for traffic this morning.

Similarly, the Yangwarak Rural Municipality section of the Pushpalal (Mid-Hill) Highway in Panchthar has also reopened.

According to Panchthar police, a landslide at Rijalbhir in Yangwarak-3 was cleared, and a diversion destroyed by flooding in Dobhane, Yangwarak-2, was reconstructed to allow traffic.

However, the Phidim–Falelung road remains blocked after a diversion on the Pheme Khola, located on the boundary of Phidim Municipality wards 1 and 11, was washed away by the flood.

Last year, floods in October had destroyed a bridge on this road, and traffic had been using a temporary diversion since then.

With each heavy rain, the diversion gets damaged, causing hardship for residents of 10 wards in Phidim Municipality and Falelung Rural Municipality.

Meanwhile, the Panchthar section of the Ranke–Ravi–Bhedetar road is operational, the police said. However, the Dhankuta section near Bhedetar in Chaubise Rural Municipality was affected by a landslide.