Lal Bahadur Rokaya and nine others from his family have been missing since Karamgad river, a tributary of Bheri, swept away his house on Monday morning while they were sleeping, according to our Surkhet correspondent Kalendra Sejuwal. [break]
Lal Bahadur´s father Som, mother Subidhara, wife Manikala, two sons, nephew Kundare, two daughters and a son-in-law, who had come for Shrawan Sankranti festival have been swept away by the river. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the Regional Police Office Naresh Man Shrestha said there is a very slim chance of rescuing them alive.
DSP Shrestha said other three houses of Laha-5, Karamgad were also swept away but the inhabitants survived as they had left their houses. Other 2o families have also been displaced by the flood which swept away everything from the Area Police Office in the village that is 20 km from Dolpa headquarters Dunai.
A police team from local Tripurakot Police Post and an army team involved in road construction in Khadang have left for the village while additional police force from Surkhet has not been able to reach the village due to adverse weather.
Meanwhile, our Udayapur correspondent Maheshwar Chamling Rai reports Nanda Lal Ghale, 49, has gone missing after a landslide hit Suntale-4, Chekthum in Khotang. Ghale had gone to graze goats while at his in-laws´ house, according to DSP Tek Bahadur Tamang at Khotang Police.
Man Maya Khanidanda, Thamkharka and Lamidanda airports in Khotang district have been shut down for the past three days as the gravel runways have been damaged by heavy rainfall.
Likeswise, Chhatra Bahadur Majhi, 35, and Manju Chapagain, 14, of Shivagunj-7 have gone missing in the Kankai river since Monday evening, according to Jhapa correspondent Raju Adhikari.
India stops traffic along Banbasa, Tanakpur bridges
India has stopped vehicular movement along Banbasa and Tanakpur bridges as two-days of torrential downpour increased water in Mahakali river to a treacherous level, reports our Mahendranagar correspondent Bikram Giri.
This has affected passengers traveling to India using Gaddachauki and Brahmadev border points. Business activity in Mahendranagar, Brahmadev, Banbasa, Tanakpur and the nearby areas has been affected while hundreds of Nepalis have been stranded at Banbasa and Tanakpur.
Mahendranagar and most villages of Kanchanpur have been inundated due to incessant rainfall displacing 125 families. Thirty-six freed kamaiya households of Bandevi camp in Krishnapur-5, 50 near Banhara bridge of Krishnapur-2, 19 of Bhimdutta municipality 9 and 14 of Suda VDC have been displaced.
Likewise, six houses of Bhimdutta-18 have also been inundated. Electricity transmission in Jhalari and Bellauri region has been disrupted as 33 Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) poles have been uprooted in Daiji VDC. Locals fear the worst is yet to come as Mahakali river embankment constructed at Bhimdutta-11, Bhujela has started to cave in.
Transportation in seven districts of Far West has also been affected due to obstructions along the Bhimdutta Highway, according to our Doti correspondent Pushpa Raj Joshi. A landslide near Sahukharka of Dadeldhura has left vehicles heading to hilly districts from Dhangadhi and Surkhet stranded.
Landslides have also damaged Baglung-Burtibang road at various points affecting business in the second biggest commercial center in the district. Commuters have been forced to walk and change vehicles at seven different points due to landslides and floods. Two families of Malma-2 have been displaced due to threat of landslide.
A 35 KW Damarkhola Hydroelectricity Project in the village has become dysfunctional after flood swept away the project´s dam. Vehicular movement along the Beni-Jomsom road, the only road link to Mustang, has also come to a complete halt.
Likewise, transportation in the whole Rapti zone has been affected by flood and landslides, according to Dang correspondent Gajendra Bohara. Vehicular movement along the 46-km Lamahi-Tulasipur road has been obstructed four-five hours daily for the past few days due to floods in over a dozen rivers.
There are no bridges across most of these rivers with just causeways constructed for the passage of water. But heavy rainfall has rendered these causeways virtually useless.
Likewise, Tulasipur-Salyan road has also been obstructed while Salyan-Rukum road has remained unused for the past seven days due to landslides. Dang-Pyuthan road has also been affected for the last few days.
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Water level rises in Koshi
The flow of water in Koshi river reached the highest for this year recording 218,620 cusec (cubic feet per second) Tuesday afternoon and is increasing, according to our Itahari correspondent Amar Khadka.
The authorities are blaring alert sirens after the reading crossed 150,000 cusec and the Sunsari District Administration said 37 of the 55 gates at the Koshi barrage have been opened. The dams have, however, not been destroyed, according to engineer at the Water Induced Disaster Control Office, Biratnagar Mohan Bhattarai.
The Koshi barrage is designed to withstand 950,000 cusec but experts say it can be destroyed at a far lower level as it has outlived its utility.
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