Nepal has deployed hundreds of pieces of heavy equipment to landslide-prone highways as persistent monsoon rain triggered landslides and flooding that disrupted traffic on at least nine major highways across the country, authorities said on Monday.

Although this year's monsoon arrived later than usual and seasonal forecasts had predicted below-average rainfall, days of continuous rain have already caused widespread damage to roads, infrastructure and farmland, while claiming lives in several parts of the Himalayan nation.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said rain was falling across most of the country, though major rivers had not yet experienced sudden surges in water levels. Continuous rainfall over the past week has nonetheless triggered landslides that have blocked or damaged several strategic highways.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) has instructed District Security Committees in 23 districts to suspend nighttime vehicle movement because of the risk of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall and landslides.

The Department of Roads said it had identified 80 highway sections vulnerable to landslides this monsoon and stationed excavators, loaders and dump trucks at high-risk locations to ensure roads can be reopened quickly after debris is cleared.

According to Nepal Police, nine major highways were fully or partially blocked on Sunday, with the worst disruption reported in Koshi and Bagmati provinces.

In eastern Nepal, flooding reduced traffic to a single lane on the Mid-Hill Highway in Bhojpur district, while landslides completely blocked sections of the Mechi Highway in Ilam and Panchthar districts. Another landslide cut the Diktel-Bhojpur section of the Mid-Hill Highway in Khotang district.

In Bagmati province, authorities suspended traffic on the BP Highway because of the threat of flooding, while vehicle movement on the Kanti Highway linking Kathmandu with Hetauda was halted indefinitely because of landslide risks and swollen rivers.

Landslides also blocked the Araniko Highway at Jure Khola and Kodari in Sindhupalchok district, disrupting the main road connection with the Chinese border. Traffic on the Pasang Lhamu Highway leading to Rasuwagadhi was reduced to one lane.

Further west, landslides closed sections of the Prithvi Highway in Chitwan and Dhading districts, including the Jawang Khola section, while the Narayanghat-Muglin highway, one of Nepal's busiest transport corridors connecting Kathmandu with the southern plains and India, continued to experience almost daily landslides at Tuin Khola.

The Chitwan district administration has suspended nighttime traffic on both the Narayanghat-Muglin and Nagdhunga-Muglin highways as a precaution against vehicles being trapped by overnight landslides.

Officials said strategic routes including the BP, Kanti, Mechi and Araniko highways, as well as the Koshi, Karnali and Kaligandaki corridors, remain among the country's most landslide-prone roads during the monsoon.

Road widening on the under-construction Nagdhunga-Muglin highway has also exposed fresh unstable slopes at several locations, creating new landslide hazards beyond previously identified sites.

"The monsoon has caused landslides only at isolated sections so far, and we have stationed machinery at those locations," said Saujanya Nepal, chief of the Federal Road Supervision and Monitoring Office.

"Once rainfall stops, debris is cleared and traffic resumes. So far, we have not faced major disruptions," he said.

The Department of Roads said it has deployed 155 pieces of heavy equipment, including excavators, loaders and dump trucks, along vulnerable highways nationwide, while another 122 machines remain on standby through its 16 regional mechanical offices.

Authorities warned that if heavy rainfall persists, the risk of prolonged highway closures will rise sharply in Nepal, where monsoon-triggered landslides and floods kill dozens of people every year and regularly cut off transport links across the mountainous country.