The onset of monsoon may be good tidings for farmers, but along the Prithbi Highway, the massive Krishna Bhir landslide threatens to block this artery again for weeks this year. This major mud and rock slide (see pic) started three years ago, and has been disrupting traffic ever since. The highway is the only other surface link to the south, west and east of the country from Kathmandu besides the serpentine Tribhuban Highway.

This year, the Roads Department says it is prepared to deal with anything Krishna Bhir throws at them. Others are doubtful. The whole mountainside is unstable and threatens to tumble down with the first downpour. "We are not interfering with the nature here," explains Naresh Shakya, the department's senior engineer responsible for managing Krishna Bhir. "All we are doing is keeping the slides from hampering traffic movement on the highway."

Embankments have been put into place to stop the debris from reaching the road, but not everyone is convinced it will do the trick. Some engineers complain privately there isn't enough money from the road toll being invested in a long-term solution.

"Controlling the rock overhang at the top of the mountain is going to be very costly," admits Shakya. "Right now, we are trying to manage it within the budget we have." Of the Rs 7 million allocated for the job, and Rs 2 million spent so far, workers are racing against the monsoon to finish the work before the rains. Some donor agencies have proposed a tunnel and other expensive diversions, but the Roads Department is confident it can handle the problem itself. Ram Krishna Pokhrel, deputy director general at the road department told us: "We have some ideas that we think will be cheap to implement and will work. We are trying them out." Cross fingers.