NUWAKOT, Sept 1: The tsunami-like flooding of the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers on August 26 caused great damage to riverside areas in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. Houses, roads, bridges, hydropower projects, schools, commercial infrastructure, as well as agriculture and animal husbandry along the Trishuli riverbanks, suffered extensive damage from the flood, and there have also been a great number of human casualties. The floods have threatened the existence of years-old settlements in the area.
Not only has the flood swept away settlements that had previously coexisted according to the natural geography of various places, but it has also damaged the historical Devighat Bazaar in Nuwakot, where then-King Prithvi Narayan Shah rested after the unification of the Baise/Chaubise kingdoms and where his tomb is located, as well as Trishuli Bazaar, which is historically connected to the strategic and tactical Nuwakot Durbar of that time.
In Trishuli, Devighat, Betrabati, Mailung, and Syabrubesi Bazaar, settlements that developed according to the geographical makeup of the area since ancient times and are known for their cultural heritage and holy sites of various communities have been completely destroyed. A powerful flood, the likes of which residents in the area had never seen or imagined, came suddenly from the Tibetan region, intensifying the flow of the rivers, eroding nearby markets and riverbank areas, and wrecking many settlements.
Locals from Rasuwa’s Rasuwagadhi, Timure, Syabrubesi, Mailung, and Betrabati, as well as Nuwakot’s historic Trishuli Bazaar, Dhunge, and Devighat, were forced to leave their homes and flee to safer locations.
Many families in the flood-affected areas have lost wealth and property accumulated over generations, household items, and the basis of their livelihoods. Survivors of the flood complain that rapid rescue and relief distribution for those affected have not been properly managed and are not happening as expected.
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Ramkrishna Dangol, a local cultural expert from Nuwakot, said that those who barely survived the flood now believe that the old markets, religious sites and temples, and the historical and cultural civilization itself are in danger.
“There is no possibility of those who fortunately survived the flood returning to these riverside areas easily,” said 80-year-old Dangol, who was found a little above Dhunge Bazaar in Bidur Municipality. “Many of the people who survived the flood have missing family members. Their homes, businesses, and fields have all been buried by mud.”
Stating that he does not believe that those who survived the flood will return to where they used to stay, he expressed his conviction that relocating locals from the affected areas may be the best alternative.
Even now, as risks also persist due to the increased flow of the Trishuli River, Dangol stated that old human civilizations in riverside areas are in danger.
A majority of local experts, besides Dangol, also say that the effects of this unimaginable flood, the likes of which have not been seen in generations, are not limited to physical infrastructure. Local communities along the riverbanks say that their social, cultural, and economic lives have also been seriously impacted. They also said that this flood had taught Nepali citizens an important lesson on how to stay safe from such natural disasters in the coming days.
It appears that old human civilization structures, local traditions, religious and cultural locations, and intercommunity relations that have been maintained for generations will also be affected in the long run. Therefore, they believe that this disaster should not be viewed simply as a natural disaster, but as a major crisis for the way of life and civilization in the riverside region.
Local experts emphasized the need to intensify rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts in the area after it was struck by floods and suffered a great number of casualties.
Along with the immediate and safe relocation of vulnerable families, nutrition, health, drinking water, and housing should also be properly managed. In the long term, it seems that safe resettlement, riverside protection, and early warning systems should be made effective by conducting scientific studies of vulnerable riverside settlements.
The disastrous results of the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli floods have clearly shown that natural risks cannot be ignored when conducting development work and expanding settlements. They have also sent an important message that it is the duty of the state and related bodies to protect the social and cultural identity of affected communities while reconstructing the affected settlements.
The flood has also delivered a deadly blow to riverside settlements in areas including Dhading, Gorkha, and Chitwan that have existed for many years.
The flood has swept away more than three dozen bridges, both large and small, from Rasuwagadhi to the area above Chitwan’s Narayani River. Commercial centers and large markets, fertile land, and other physical infrastructure in many places have been transformed into swamps, reducing many settlements to ruins.
The greatest impact of the flood has been on settlements directly connected with the river. Families who have relied on the river for their livelihoods for generations have been rendered homeless in a single day. In some places, it has become difficult to even find the ruins of houses.
Traffic, too, has been blocked due to roads and bridges being swept away. Damage to electricity, drinking water, and communication infrastructure has made the daily lives of locals even more difficult. For generations, history, culture, social relations, and economic activity have been connected to the riverside areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot. It appears that there will also be a long-term effect on the local economy, since hotels, shops, farms, and small businesses that operated along the riverbanks have been destroyed by the flood.
Local expert Jhamkanath Rimal says that the recent flood disaster has raised serious questions about our preparedness for such natural disasters and the uncontrolled expansion of settlements along the riverbanks. He stated that the flood has created a sense that a chapter in the historical, social, and cultural civilization of the riverside settlements is being erased.
