Main trekking route damaged by earthquake in Langtang area repaired

- CB Adhikari 

Kathmandu - The Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) has repaired the main trekking route and constructed the truss bridge in Langtang. The route and the bridge were damaged by the Gorkha Earthquake on April 25, 2015. 

TAAN completed the Rs 1.27 million projects in September. This information was shared at a news conference organized by TAAN here on Tuesday. 

Langtang is the third most popular trekking area in the country. 

It is hoped that trekking tourism would be boosted with the repair and reconstruction of the trekking trail and the bridge, sending out the message to the world that tourism in Nepal is safe. 

The German Alpine Club (DAV) had provided 100 thousand Euros for the project called Restoration of Trekking and Transportation Trail in Langtang Valley. Ten per cent of the remaining cost of the project was met by TAAN mobilizing its internal resources and local voluntary labour. 

A tripartite agreement was signed in April 2016 between DAV, TAAN and Langtang Management and Reconstruction Committee, a partner organization in the Langtang area, for the construction of the project. The reconstruction works were completed in about 17 months. 

Project coordinator and TAAN's First Vice-president, Tej Bahadur Gurung, said arrival of domestic and foreign tourists in the area has increased with the repair and reconstruction of the trekking route and the truss bridge. 

He said hotels and lodges in the Langtang area are fully occupied and their business has increased after the repair of the route. Eight thousand tourists visited Langtang last year and the number is expected to go up significantly this year, Gurung said. 

According to him, the entire trekking route was divided into five sections and separate consumers committees were formed for the repair and reconstruction of each section. The route has been diverted at a portion between Chhunam and Ghoda Tabela. 

Similarly, a 32-metres long truss bridge has been constructed along the trail at Chhunam at an altitude of 2,854 metres from the mean sea level. 

The truss bridge was jointly inaugurated by DAV vice-president Jurgen Dupple and TAAN general secretary Karna Lama on October 4. 

A 13-member DAV delegation including eight journalists had reached Langtang to attend the inauguration ceremony.