Kathmandu, Sept. 11 -- The government is preparing an alternative road across the Trishuli river as uncertainty grows over efforts to reopen the landslide-prone Krishnabhir section of the Prithvi Highway, a key link between Kathmandu and central and western Nepal. Officials fear the temporary track being built around the collapsed section may not be safe for long.

The highway has been closed at Krishnabhir for 13 days after the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood sent the Trishuli river against the road embankment, causing severe erosion and eventually triggering a landslide. The government had hoped to restore traffic by mid-September using a roughly 250-metre track cut into the mountainside above the collapsed road.

But the slope remains unsta...