Benchmarking technique adopted to mitigate landslides on Beni-Jomsom-Korala road

Myagdi. The 'benchmarking' method has been adopted to prevent landslides at Sirubari in Raghuganga Rural Municipality-2, Myagdi, along the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road section of the Kaligandaki Corridor.

To provide a temporary solution to the problem of road blockages caused by landslides during the monsoon season, the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project, which connects India and China, has implemented the 'benchmarking' method as a short-term, low-cost landslide mitigation measure. This is the first time the 'benchmarking' method has been used to prevent landslides on roads in Myagdi.

Project Chief Tejaswi Sharma stated that the 'benchmarking' method was adopted to temporarily prevent landslides at Sirubari and ensure regular traffic flow on the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road during the upcoming monsoon.

"Due to the lack of guaranteed funding for the Rs 600 million required for a long-term solution to the 300-meter-long Sirubari landslide, the project has used internal resources to temporarily mitigate the landslide through benchmarking," he said. "Terraces have been created to prevent the landslide from the steep slope from falling directly onto the road."

The benchmarking work, which began in the first week of Chaitra using bulldozers, was completed a few days ago. The landslide area at Sirubari extends up to one kilometer above the road, with the Kaligandaki River flowing below. For the past three years, landslides from above the Sirubari road have frequently blocked the Beni-Jomsom road during the monsoon season.

When the road is blocked, containers transporting goods from the Korala border, tourists traveling to Mustang, pilgrims, and local residents often find themselves stranded. While work has begun to control other major landslides on the Beni-Jomsom road, the largest, at Sirubari, had remained unaddressed due to a lack of budget.

In technical terms, 'benchmarking' refers to the method of controlling landslides by creating stair-like levels on steep terrain to stabilize it. Bulldozers have leveled two sections above the road to prevent the landslide from falling directly onto the path.

Information Officer of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project, Jem Kumar Baitha, explained that on the road, which has been widened to approximately 17 meters, a seven-meter space has been left on the edge to allow for landslide debris accumulation. By turning the sloping land into a stair-like structure, each level supports the weight of the soil above, reduces the speed of water runoff, and decreases the likelihood of soil slippage.