Gorkha:Apples produced in the Manaslu region of northern Gorkha are stranded in warehouses after floods in the Budhigandaki River washed away bridges and roads.
According to National News Agency RSS, businessman Lakpa Dundup Lama expressed that the apples are being kept in storage due to a complete lack of transportation options. An avalanche in mid-October in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-6 blocked the Ungilung Khola stream, resulting in a flood that swept away numerous bridges and road sections along the Budhigandaki River, severely disrupting movement. The Benighat-Arughat-Larke road is also obstructed.
Lama, who cultivates various apple varieties at an altitude of 2,650 meters in Namrung, Chumnubri Rural Municipality-4, reported that his farm produced 100,000 kilograms of apples this year. The transportation challenges for apples from this region are an annual occurrence, but this year’s floods have worsened the situation. Typically, it takes about a week to transport apples from Namrung and surrounding areas to the market using mules, during which 20 to 25 percent of the produce is lost due to bruising and wilting.
With the current transportation impasse, farmers have turned to sun-drying apples to make dried apple slices and producing alcoholic beverages. Businessperson Lakpa Dundup lamented that those with large harvests have no choice but to process some apples into dried slices or alcohol, with the rest left to rot.