Flashfloods and landslides claim 5 lives

Flashfloods and landslides claim 5 lives

At least five persons have died while a teenage girl has gone missing after being swept away by flashfloods caused by heavy rainfall in many districts of the country for the last couple of days. Floods and landslides have also crippled normal life in many districts as vast swathes of land and various settlements have been inundated due to heavy rainfall.

According to various reports, Sabitri Gharti Magar, 40, of Sewar in Dhikpur VDC, Dang district died after being swept away by a river Wednesday afternoon. Her body was found some 400 meters away from her house. Similarly, Nimraj Khanal, 24, a resident of Matera VDC-3 in the same district was swept away by a flashflood while crossing the Kala stream in Tulsipur Tuesday evening. His dead body was recovered some distance away from his house Wednesday morning.

In another incident, 29-year-old Geeta Pulami of Rauta VDC, Udaypur died when she was buried under a landslide in Tarkhola Wednesday. While 25-year-old Angira Khadka of Ratnabati was swept away and died while crossing the flooded Sokhu river, a teenage girl has gone missing when the river also swept her away, reports said.

In Kohanpur of Banke district, Sashi Poudel, 35, was killed after being trapped in her house in Kohalpur-4 as it collapsed due to flood on Wednesday.

The Kathmandu Post reported that hundreds of local have been rendered homeless in Mahottari as rainfall continue to wreak havoc in the district. Many thatched-roofed houses in the villages have collapsed. Similarly, over 300 houses of Birgunj sub-metropolis have been inundated while scores in other villages in Parsa district have also come under water due to flashfloods. Normal life in Sunsari, Saptari, Chitwan and Surkhet districts has also been affected due to rainfall and flashfloods.

A team from the Area Police Post Narayanpur rescued passengers and salvaged a bus that was on the verge of being swept away by the Patre stream on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as flashfloods and landslides continue to affect life in many districts, experts at the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention (DWIDP) fear that things can get worse as this is just the beginning of monsoon. However, the department has taken no measures to prevent disaster in inundation-prone areas.

“The India-built Laxmanpur, Khurdalautan and several other dams and structures at many border points along rivers flowing from Nepal to India are part of the reason behind the inundation,” Khom Raj Dahal, Deputy Director General of DWIDP told the Kathmandu Post. nepalnews.com ag July 26 07