Kathmandu, Aug. 13 -- The Araniko Highway, a key route linking Nepal to China through the Tatopani border, has been closed for 11 days following frequent landslides at Kodari. Traders say the authorities have failed to take adequate measures to restore traffic, leaving hundreds of containers stranded and causing heavy losses.

With the highway blocked, importers have been forced to hire porters to carry perishable goods such as apples, mangoes, garlic, grapes, and spices across the landslide site. Other goods, including readymade clothes, shoes, bags, rolls of fabric, and machinery, have been stuck for days in the customs warehouse at Miteri Bridge, at Khasa, and Nyalam in Tibet.

According to traders, transporting a container of apples m...