Locals are helpless after losing their houses and belongings. The elderly and children are unwell as ran has not stopped. [break]
Locals say flood entered the settlement after a narrow drain broke down at around 3 am Sunday.
"We couldn´t sleep as it rained for whole night. And at around three, the drain broke down and flood water entered the settlement," said Birendra Rai.
Prakash Bayalkoti, a local, said those who lost their houses and belongings are facing problems finding shelter and food. "We will manage to survive," he said, adding, "But where we shelter our children and how will we feed them?"
According to Bayalkoti, about 150 people of the 32 households are left without a roof.
Flooding caused by the same stream swept away 29 houses last monsoon. Affected locals say the municipality was requested for relief measures to stop the disaster after last year´s flooding, but to no avail.
Dipak BK, a local, warned that those whose houses have been destroyed would capture land around Saptarangi Park if the municipality does not provide immediate relief.
The park itself is at risk of being flooded.
On Sunday, the municipality´s chief executive officer Rajendra Kumar Poudel visited the affected area with his team. He pledged immediate relief to those affected and initiation of measures to set up infrastructure to prevent such disaster in the future.
Meanwhile, Saptakoshi and Patanali rivers have started eroding land, according to our Itahari correspondent.
The Saptakoshi River has started eroding land from 13 RD of Barahakshetra. The river has started eroding land from between the tenth and eleventh spurs of 13 RD, according to Engineer Mohan Bhattarai of the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention. Laborers have been mobilized to stop the erosion.
Similarly, the Patanali River has started eroding land near the main canal of Sunsari-Morang Irrigation Project. Bhattarai said if Patanali continues to erode land, it could cause massive damages by bringing down a bridge and affect the main canal of the irrigation project.
Meanwhile continuous rainfall has put 50 houses at Ranitole of Khanar-6 at the risk of being swept away. Members of a dozen households have already left the village, according to Sunsari police chief Bhupal Kumar Bhandari. Wards 4, 7, and 8 have already been swamped by water.
Meanwhile, Jhapa correspondent Raju Adhikari reports that dozens of families have been displaced and hundreds of bigha of cultivable land eroded due to flood following incessant rain since Saturday night.
Dangibari VDC has been the worst hit with 15 families displaced in ward number 2 and three. Houses of Fabin Chaudhary, Rani Hemram Satar and Asaru Rajbanshi were swept away by the raging Biring river. Biring has also displaced seven families of Sharanamati-7, Radhabasti.
Likewise, five families of Lakhanpur-5, Khayarbari have been displaced by Ratuwa river while another 30 houses are being inundated. Hundreds of families of Surunga-4 are under threat after a breakaway stream of Surunga river entered the village.
Related story
Mustang floods sweep away 10 houses, police posts and bridges
