Persistent dry landslides disrupt access in Gorkha’s Manaslu region

Dry landslides have kept falling in the Manaslu region of northern Gorkha since Tuesday morning, hampering the trail to Serang Gumba, a monastery whose residents now struggle to get supplies. According to Annapurna Post and Onlinekhabar, the slides began in the Kyrak area of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-5 and were still coming down on Wednesday, November 4, ward chairperson Kalden Chhewang Lama said.

Lama said a large dry landslide is falling at Bumrang, on the trail from Kyrak to Serang Gumba and about half an hour's walk from Kyrak. Debris runs for more than 300 meters from the Sakima hill down to the Serang stream, he said, and how wide it is could not be determined because it was still falling. He described white, smoke-like dust rising from the site. A large slide came down at about 11am on Tuesday, he said, and another of the same kind overnight; because it kept falling, residents could not go to inspect it.

Lama said about 400 people at Serang Gumba are affected: around 200 students who study to become lamas, and another 200 who are lama teachers or live in the monastery's elderly home. He said it will be hard to get them rations and other essentials.

Residents are worried as dry landslides and avalanches have begun falling in quick succession across Gorkha's Himalayan areas, Lama said. He recalled that on Asoj 25 (October 11) an avalanche on the eastern side of Serang Himal blocked the Ungilung stream and sent a destructive flood down the Budhigandaki.

Separate incident in Samdo

In a separate incident, The Kathmandu Post reported that a landslide has dammed the Dhindhur River near Larke Bazar in Samdo, ward 1 of Chumnubri Rural Municipality. Locals believe it came down on Thursday night. They said the lake that formed is shallow and covers an estimated 500 square meters.

Mingmar Lama, a resident of Samagaun, said that although a lake has formed, water is still flowing and there is no need to panic for now. Bhuwan Ojha, information officer at the Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP), said there was no immediate danger because water continued to flow from the lake, and no immediate risk of a sudden breach, but he urged residents to remain alert.