A heavy truck on the Prithvi Highway in Nepal, the main road link between Kathmandu and Pokhara
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Krishnabhir Trial Run: Prithvi Highway Reopening Begins

Byanish maharjan

Direct answer: The first vehicles have crossed the collapsed Krishnabhir section of the Prithvi Highway. On Sunday 13 September 2026, around 20 vehicles, including a stranded gas tanker and heavy freight trucks, were allowed through a newly cut temporary track in a supervised trial run, 11 days after restoration work began on the stretch washed away by the Trishuli flood of 26 August. Officials say regular traffic is still several days away, but two-way traffic is expected from Thursday 17 September if no new problems emerge, according to the Department of Roads.

Update: This article is part of our continuing coverage of the Krishnabhir highway collapse. For the original story of the August washout, see Prithvi Highway Blocked at Krishnabhir After Flood Collapses the Road, and for the permanent repair options, see Tunnels or Bridges: The Plan to Fix Krishnabhir for Good.

Key Takeaways

  • Around 20 vehicles, including a stranded gas tanker and heavy trucks, crossed the new temporary track at Krishnabhir on Sunday 13 September in a trial run.
  • The Prithvi Highway has been cut at Krishnabhir, Dhading, since the Trishuli flood of 26 August 2026 destroyed roughly 70 metres of road bench.
  • A diversion track first opened on 5 September; the new track now in use was cut above the washed-away section.
  • Regular traffic is not yet allowed. Grading, gravelling and compaction work continues with two bulldozers.
  • The Department of Roads expects two-way traffic from Thursday 17 September, weather permitting.
  • For now, only stranded vehicles, gas bullets and heavy-equipment trucks are being let through, one supervised convoy at a time.

Table of Contents

What Happened at Krishnabhir on Sunday

Eighteen days after the Trishuli flood carved away the road bench at Krishnabhir, and eleven days after heavy equipment finally began rebuilding a passage, the Prithvi Highway quietly passed its biggest test since the disaster. On Sunday 13 September, officials allowed a carefully managed group of vehicles to drive across the newly graded track that now runs above the destroyed section of highway in Dhading district.

The passage was a trial run, not a reopening. Around 20 vehicles took part, according to Sahadev Khadka, vice-president of the Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal. The convoy included a gas tanker that had been stranded on the wrong side of the collapse since late August, along with heavy freight trucks that had waited weeks for a way through. A gas tanker travelling from Kathmandu towards Chitwan was among the vehicles, an intentional choice: tankers and loaded trucks are the heaviest, most demanding vehicles on the route, and if the new track could hold them, it could hold lighter traffic too.

The scene marked the first time any vehicle had crossed the Krishnabhir stretch since the flood of 26 August undercut the slope and sent a section of Nepal’s most important highway into the river below. For travelers, it is the strongest signal yet that the Kathmandu-Pokhara overland link is steadily coming back to life.

Inside the Trial Run

The trial did not happen on impulse. It followed days of preparation documented by both Kathmandu Post and Online Khabar. Engineers first levelled the road grade across the collapse zone using two bulldozers, shaping a platform wide enough for a single line of heavy vehicles. Before letting loaded trucks pass, crews planned to send an empty gas bullet across first, to test the track’s load-bearing capacity without risking a loaded vehicle.

By Sunday, that testing had progressed far enough for the real thing. Supervised by road officials and with the Dhading Chief District Officer’s inspection team on site, the stranded vehicles were led through one by one. According to Khadka, the track held.

What the trial proved was narrower than a full reopening. The vehicles that crossed were the ones already stuck at the barrier, chiefly gas bullets and trucks carrying heavy equipment. Ordinary buses, cars and tourist vans were not part of the run, and they will not be allowed through until the Department of Roads is satisfied that the surface is stable enough for continuous two-way traffic.

What Work Still Remains

Officials are deliberately cautious, and the reason is written into the geology of the site. The new track is a cut made above the section the river destroyed, not a rebuilt highway. Making it permanently trafficable requires three further steps, and only the first is complete:

  1. Grading: levelling and shaping the track so heavy vehicles can pass. This is the part now largely done, with two bulldozers working continuously.
  2. Gravelling: laying a stable gravel running surface over the graded earth. This work was still pending as of Sunday’s report by Online Khabar.
  3. Compaction: mechanically compressing the surface so it can bear repeated heavy loads without rutting or slipping, especially if rain returns.

Until gravelling and compaction are finished, the track is best understood as an emergency passage, vulnerable to weather. The Department of Roads has technical teams deployed at the site to push the remaining work forward.

The Two-Way Traffic Timeline

The clearest schedule yet came from Bijaya Jaishi, director general of the Department of Roads. Quoted by the Kathmandu Post on Sunday evening, he said: “If there are no further problems, we expect to allow two-way traffic from Thursday.” That points to Thursday 17 September as the target for opening the track to regular, bidirectional traffic.

The full sequence of the recovery so far:

Date Event
26 August 2026 Trishuli flood undercuts and destroys the Krishnabhir road section; Prithvi Highway cut.
3 September 2026 Road project chief estimates 10-15 days to a temporary reopening.
5 September 2026 First diversion track opened, seven days after the washout.
9 September 2026 Department of Roads begins studying tunnels and twin bridges as permanent fixes.
13 September 2026 Trial run: about 20 vehicles, including a stranded gas tanker and heavy trucks, cross the new track.
17 September 2026 (expected) Two-way traffic expected if no further problems, per the Department of Roads.

Status Table: Confirmed vs Expected

Claim Status
About 20 vehicles crossed Krishnabhir in a trial run on 13 September CONFIRMED (Kathmandu Post, Online Khabar)
A stranded gas tanker and heavy freight trucks were among them CONFIRMED (Kathmandu Post)
The new track runs above the section washed away on 26 August CONFIRMED (Kathmandu Post)
Grading largely done; gravelling and compaction still pending CONFIRMED (Online Khabar, 13 September)
Two-way traffic from Thursday 17 September EXPECTED (Department of Roads estimate, conditional on no further problems)
Regular traffic resumes immediately NOT CONFIRMED; officials say it will take several more days

What This Means for Travelers

The Prithvi Highway is the main overland artery between Kathmandu and both Pokhara and Chitwan, and every overland traveler heading to Annapurna treks, rafting runs on the Trishuli, or jungle lodges in Chitwan normally rides it. The collapse at Krishnabhir has forced weeks of detours, long queues and uncertainty.

The trial run changes the practical picture in three ways:

  1. The recovery is on schedule, if ahead of it. The 10-15 day reopening estimate given on 3 September pointed to mid-September. Sunday’s crossing shows the work is tracking that timeline rather than slipping.
  2. Expect one-way, supervised operation first. Even after Thursday’s hoped-for two-way opening, the first days will likely involve controlled windows, longer queues and slow speeds over fresh gravel. Build buffer time into any itinerary that uses the highway.
  3. The alternative routes are still relevant. The Tribhuvan Highway detour has had its own landslide problems, and the Narayangadh-Mugling section operates under partial closures for its own repair works. Neither alternative is a clean escape from construction delays right now.

Travelers with flights out of Kathmandu in the coming week should keep the overland schedule in mind, and those who can shift to air travel between Pokhara and Kathmandu still have that option while the road settles.

Why Gas Bullets Matter: The LPG Crisis

There is a reason the first vehicles through were gas bullets and tankers rather than buses. The Krishnabhir cut has severed the main supply route for liquefied petroleum gas into the Kathmandu Valley, and the capital has spent recent weeks in an LPG shortage that has emptied cooking-gas cylinders from kitchens and forced businesses to ration fuel. Online Khabar reported on the same day as the trial run that industries in the Terai were straining to move gas supplies toward Kathmandu by whatever route remained.

Getting the stranded gas bullets and their empty counterparts moving again is therefore both a logistics necessity and a public test of the new track. It is no accident that the heaviest, most delicate vehicles went first: if the highway can move gas safely, it can move anything, including the tourist buses that will follow.

For trekkers and climbers already in Nepal, the LPG situation matters beyond the kitchen: teahouses and lodges along trekking routes depend on gas for cooking, and shortages in Kathmandu have a way of rippling outward into supply chains. A reopened Prithvi Highway eases that pressure at the source.

The Bigger Picture: A Highway Under Repair

The trial run at Krishnabhir is one step in a much larger rebuilding effort along the Trishuli corridor, and travelers should read it in that context. The same flood system that cut the Prithvi Highway damaged roads across Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok, including the route to the Tibetan border at Rasuwagadhi, which the Kathmandu Post reported on 13 September faces long repairs of its own.

Our earlier coverage details the full sequence of the disaster and the repair options now on the table:

For broader guidance on staying safe while traveling in Nepal during the monsoon and its aftermath, including landslip-prone roads and delay planning, see Nepal Trekking Safety and Health: The Complete Guide.

Practical Advice for Overland Travelers

Until regular two-way traffic is confirmed, treat the Prithvi Highway as a corridor in supervised recovery. Specific recommendations:

  1. Do not plan tight connections over the highway this week. If you must reach a flight in Kathmandu from Pokhara or Chitwan, leave a full extra day of buffer, or fly.
  2. Confirm your bus operator’s route plan. Some services may continue to use the Tribhuvan Highway diversion even after the Prithvi reopens; ask which road your ticket actually rides.
  3. Expect night closures and one-way windows. Freshly graded tracks are often run in alternating convoys; a 3-4 hour delay is realistic, a full day is possible.
  4. Watch the weather. The new track’s gravelling and compaction are incomplete; heavy rain is the single biggest threat to the schedule. Check forecasts for Dhading before you ride.
  5. Keep your Nepal travel insurance current, and carry extra snacks, water and a power bank on any long overland leg in the weeks ahead.

FAQ: Krishnabhir Reopening

Is the Prithvi Highway open now?

Not for regular traffic as of 13 September 2026. A trial run has taken place and stranded heavy vehicles are being let through, but the Department of Roads says routine traffic will take several more days, with two-way traffic expected from Thursday 17 September if all goes well.

Can I take a tourist bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara on the Prithvi Highway?

Not yet on the restored Krishnabhir section. Until regular traffic is announced, buses continue to use detours such as the Tribhuvan Highway, which itself has had recent landslide closures. Check with your operator before booking, and allow extra hours regardless of route.

Why did gas tankers cross first?

Heavy tankers are the most demanding vehicles for a fresh track, so they are both the best test and the most urgent cargo: Kathmandu is in an LPG shortage because the highway cut severed gas supply routes. Empty bullets ran first to test load-bearing capacity, followed by loaded vehicles.

When will the highway be fully back to normal?

Two-way traffic on the temporary track is the near-term milestone expected around 17 September. A permanent fix, whether tunnels, bridges or a rebuilt bench, is a separate decision still being studied by the Department of Roads, so the temporary track will carry traffic for some time.

What caused the Krishnabhir collapse?

The flood of 26 August 2026 on the Trishuli river, which began as a catastrophic flood on the Bhotekoshi upstream, undercut the road bench at Krishnabhir in Dhading district and washed roughly 70 metres of highway away.

Sources

A heavy truck on the Prithvi Highway in Nepal, the main road link between Kathmandu and Pokhara
A heavy truck travels the Prithvi Highway. The first vehicles to cross the restored Krishnabhir track on 13 September 2026 were gas tankers and heavy freight trucks. Photo: Gerd Eichmann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Published: 14 September 2026. This article will be updated as the reopening progresses; the next expected milestone is two-way traffic from Thursday 17 September 2026.

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