MUSTANG: More than 2,500 electric vehicles (EVs) imported into Nepal through the Korala border point have remained stranded in Mustang for the past two weeks due to disruptions along the Beni-Jomsom road.
The road was obstructed by floods, landslides and river erosion following heavy rainfall in late August, preventing the newly imported vehicles from reaching their destinations.
Although the road reopened on Friday evening, its poor and precarious condition has continued to hamper the movement of vehicles.
According to the Armed Police Force’s Border Outpost in Nhechung, located in Lomanthang Rural Municipality-4 near the Nepal-China border at Korala, more than 2,000 electric vehicles are currently parked in open areas and at the Mustang Customs Yard in Nhechung.
Similarly, more than 500 EVs that had cleared customs at Korala and been transported to Jomsom remain parked at two locations in the area.
Deepak Budhathoki, a representative of BYD, said the Beni-Jomsom road had reopened but remained too precarious for the stranded vehicles to proceed safely to their destinations.
He said more than 2,000 BYD vehicles of various models imported through the Korala border had been stranded in Mustang since heavy rainfall disrupted road connectivity.
Meanwhile, more than 600 containers carrying goods imported through the Korala border had left the district for their respective destinations by Monday, according to Police Inspector Santosh Basyal, information officer for the concerned police unit.
Basyal added that as previously stranded containers moved out of the district, some empty containers had begun heading towards the Korala border to transport additional imported goods.