Chitwan, March 17 -- The haunting echoes of falling boulders have returned to the Tuinkhola section of the Narayanghat-Mugling road, reigniting fears of a repeat of last year's monsoon chaos. Despite the dry winter offering a prime window for preventive engineering, the slopes remain dangerously exposed. As the pre-monsoon showers arrived here on Friday, the familiar sound of falling debris forced the Road Division Office to deploy heavy machinery to clear the tracks, signaling a grim prelude to the rainy season this year as well.

The Tuinkhola stretch, a lifeline connecting the national capital, Kathmandu, and the tourist hub of Pokhara to the rest of the country, has become a symbol of topographical fragility and administrative inertia...