Nepal Gripped by Monsoon Revival: Torrential Rains Trigger Highway Shutdowns, Flight Suspensions, and Evacuation Fears
Kathmandu, Nepal – October 4, 2025
A ferocious resurgence of monsoon rains battered Nepal on Saturday, unleashing torrents that have shuttered major highways nationwide and halted domestic flights at Tribhuvan International Airport. With landslide and flooding threats escalating, authorities enforced a three-day vehicular lockdown starting today, isolating the Kathmandu Valley and stranding thousands amid supply chain snarls.
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) logged extreme downpours, with Kathmandu soaking up 6 mm in the last hour and Lalitpur battered by nearly 100 mm accumulated since dawn – a deluge that has already sparked localized flash floods. A potent low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal is fueling the onslaught, hitting Madhesh Province hardest, where isolated inundations have uprooted families from riverbanks.
Highways Nationwide: Total Blackout for Three Days
The Department of Roads issued an immediate blanket closure on all principal arteries and feeder routes from October 4 to 6, citing impassable conditions from landslides and swelling streams. The Nagdhunga-Mugling highway, Nepal's critical artery to the Terai, succumbed first to a colossal slide at Jwang Khola, sealing off bidirectional traffic. Further afield, the Mugling-Narayangadh stretch ground to a halt, while the Kathmandu Valley Transport Management Authority barred all inbound and outbound vehicles, including long-haul buses that departed pre-alert.
Pre-existing night bans on the Hetauda-Kathmandu and Kanti Highway corridors – from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. – now extend round-the-clock, with passage reserved solely for ambulances and relief convoys. "In these perilous times, safety trumps all," a Valley Transport spokesperson emphasized. "Stay home, track advisories, and let responders handle the rest."
DHM's landslide bulletins cover 14 districts, zeroing in on Bagmati and Gandaki's fragile escarpments, exacerbated by recent seismic activity. National Disaster Risk Reduction teams are on-site, excavating blockages and shoring up embankments, but forecasters warn of worsening slides through Sunday.
Skies Sealed: Domestic Flights Halted Amid Visibility Zero
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) invoked a full suspension of domestic operations post-noon, blaming zero-visibility sheets and crosswinds – an initial two-hour holdover that ballooned into indefinite grounding. International legs limp on with mounting delays, as carriers like Nepal Airlines implore check-ins via app. "Passenger welfare is non-negotiable," a spokesperson affirmed. "We'll resume once the tempest yields."
In hinterlands severed by mudslides, the local adage aari ghopte pani parcha re – helicopters only in extremis – captures the peril. Nepal Army aviation squads are staged for medevac ops, but rotor ops hinge on clearing gales.
National Response: Unity in the Downpour
The Prime Minister's Office galvanized disaster cells across districts, prioritizing fluvial gauges and haven setups. "Preparedness faces its trial now," the PM declared in a terse broadcast. "Rally 'round the frail, barricade dwellings, shun watercourses."
Civilians get the drill: hoard provisions, scan FM bands for bulletins, leverage DHM's mobile tools for live telemetry. Kathmandu Valley's academies and superfluous enterprises lock down till Tuesday, shifting to e-learning. As sheets persist till morrow, experts augur abatement, yet not sans fresh turmoil.
Nepal, forged in tempests, confronts this gale with unyielding resolve.
Sources: Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Kathmandu Post, MyRepublica, The Himalayan Times, Online Khabar, Nepal News.