TAPLEJUNG, June 19: Three hundred and forty-two people from 81 families have been displaced due to floods and landslides since the start of the monsoon precipitation in Taplejung district. 

Chief District Officer (CDO) Rabindra Prasad Acharya said that five people lost their lives to landslide incidents in a period of a week. According to him, eight houses have been completely damaged while 18 more are at high risk due to landslides. 

CDO Acharya added that 55 houses are at the risk of landslides in various places in the district. "Eighty-four cattle have been killed in floods and landslides. Four vehicles have been damaged while four bridges, including two motorable wooden bridges, have been washed away by the floods," he said.

Stating that 70 displaced families have been sheltering at the homes of their relatives and neighbors, he said 11 families are taking shelter at a nearby school. 

The highest numbers of displaced families are from Sirijunga, Sidingwa, Mikwakhola and Phaktanglung Rural Municipalities. Four members of the same family were killed when their house was swept away by a landslide at Phaktanglung-2 while one person from Phidim, Panchthar, died in Sirijunga.

Landslides triggered by the incessant rain have damaged the roads as well as the hydroelectricity projects in most rural areas. The local governments are making efforts to repair the roads. Most of the rural roads have been obstructed in Sirijunga and Phaktanglung rural municipalities, CDO Acharya said. 

The locals said that the floods and landslides have caused huge damage to cardamom farming in the district. The people in the rural areas are living under the fear of rain-induced disasters as it has been raining daily.

 
• landslides
 
• floods
 
• Taplejung