SANKHUWASABHA, June 17: Every year floods and landslides result in the loss of life and property in Sankhuwasabha.

Although many people lose their lives and there are huge economic losses due to disasters in different parts of the district every year, the state has not paid attention to the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.

In recent times, the risk of floods, landslides and soil erosion has been increasing due to the excessive use of excavators everywhere. In the last 10 years, 16 people have been killed and 19 are missing in 107 landslides.

Similarly, five people have died and 19 have gone missing in floods in the district over the same period. Dozens of settlements have been displaced in Sankhuwasabha from 2070 to 2081 BS. On June 17, 2023, as many as 17 people working in a hydropower project went missing due to a flood in Hewakhola. Similarly, 11 people went missing in Silichong Rural Municipality-1, Besinda, in a landslide that occurred on the night of July 11, 2020.

A meeting of the Disaster Management Committee held at the District Administration Office on Monday made the data public. Chief District Officer (CDO) of Sankhuwasabha, Dhruba Bahadur Khadka, said that there are 29 disaster management trained manpower in all the three security agencies in the district for search and rescue.

CDO Khadka said that the decision was taken to reduce the loss of life and property caused by the monsoon this year, to make relief distribution and rehabilitation effective by carrying out immediate search and rescue. According to him, 36 out of 76 wards in the district are facing floods and landslides.

Three houses were washed away and more than two dozen households have been displaced due to landslides triggered by incessant rains on June 10. The houses of Mani Prasad Rai, Ram Prasad Rai and Dil Bahadur Rai of Koktima village in Khandbari-11, Angla, were affected by the landslide.

The landslide has also damaged the north-south Koshi road. According to the North-South Koshi Road Project, a four-kilometer stretch of the road has been damaged. It falls on the Khandbari-Kimathanka road section of the Koshi Highway. According to the road office, floods have caused a loss of around Rs 10 million to the road.

Two people have died and six more have been injured due to monsoon-related disasters. CDO Khadka informed Republica that three concrete bridges have been damaged due to floods and landslides. According to him, floods and landslides have damaged drinking water sources and electricity poles in Khandbari Municipality.

Floods and landslides that occurred on June 3 also damaged the camp and two vehicles of the upper Arun Project's access road at Chongrang of Bhotkhola-4. According to CDO Khadka, the landslides damaged the basic health post and health equipment at Saxilagola of Bhotkhola-4.

A five-bed hospital under construction at Bhotkhola-4 and Rider Jyabu Bhote at Sembang in the same ward have been buried in the landslide debris. The District Administration Office has provided relief money to the families of the missing citizens. During the rainy season, floods and landslides wash away hundreds of hectares of agricultural land and also wash away settlements.

RSS