Heavy rains kill 4 in districts, hundreds displaced

KATHMANDU, July 2: At least four people have died in rain-related incidents across the country. Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have left hundreds injured and displaced hundreds of families.

At least three persons were killed and two others injured in landslides in Darchula district Friday due to the rains that have continued since Thursday night.

Basanti Dhami, 25, of Mallikarjun Municipality; Chandradev Panta, 72, of Sarmoli VDC; and Bhagirathi Mahara, 61, of Api municipality have been identified as the deceased, according to District Police Office (DPO), Darchula.

Another person died in Sarlahi district. The deceased has been identified as 30-year-old Umesh Mahato of the district. According to Hariwon-based Area Police Office, Mahato was swept away by a sudden flood in Lakhandehikhola River while he was trying to pull out logs washed down by the swollen river.

Those injured in Darchula are Prem Singh Mahara and his 18-year-old granddaughter, Durga Mahara from Api municipality. They are undergoing treatment at the District Hospital.

Following the landslide in Api municipality, a flood in a local Khola has washed away a bridge along the main road.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sushil Singh Rathaur, who is also the chief of the DPO, Darchula, informed that security personnel have been deployed in the landslide prone and affected areas across the district.

As per the preliminary record at the District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) hundreds of houses in the district are at high risk. Nepal Police, Nepal Army and Armed Police Force personnel have been deployed to carry out rescue operation in the affected areas, according to acting Chief District Officer (CDO) Bishwamitra Kuikel. Hundreds of livestock are trapped in the landslides in the affected areas. Dozens of Village Development Committees (VDCs) including Dadakot, Sarmaulee, Kharkada, Lali, Rithachaupata, Bohorigaun, Gokuleshwar, Gwani, Shankpur, Bhagawati, Dattu and Ranishikhar have been hit by severe landslides, according to police.

A bridge at Attariya Municipality-17 along the Mahakali highway has collapsed due to the flood. Lack of bridget has Rescue operations have been affected due to collapse of the bride and obstruction in the roads, the police said.

In Baitadi, landslide triggered by incessant rainfall buried two houses at Gokuleshwar VDC ward number one. However, there is no report of human casualty in the incidents but six goats, an ox and one cow were buried under the debris.

The two houses belonged to Dhani Bhul and Raju Bhul from Gokuleshwar VDC, according to Bhim Bahadur Malla, in-charge of Gokuleshwar-based Police station.

The landslide has also obstructed the Sajbanj-Darchula section of the Mahakali highway. With the blockage of the road, many buses and their hundreds of passengers have been stranded.

However, security personnel are facing problems to clear the obstruction caused by the landslide due to incessant rainfall that is still on, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mohan Prasad Pokharel, of District Police Office (DPO), Baitadi, informed.

According to our Chitwan-based correspondent Ramesh Kumar Paudel, the haphazard expansion of Narayanghat-Mugling road section that connects Kathmandu with the rest of the country has increased the risk of landslides at several places along the route.

Asr the hillsides along the road have been slashed vertically instead of at a 45 degree angle, several places along the Narayanghat-Mugling road section have become vulnerable to landslides. Even the engineers of Narayanghat-Mugling Road Project tried their best to prevent landslides by erecting retaining walls but in vain.

In Gorkha, around 200 households of Kerauja VDC in Gorkha district have been displaced after their settlements were threatened by landslides triggered by heavy rains this week.

In Dolakha district, 15 households at Suri VDC have been displaced after their settlements were threatened by landslides triggered by heavy rains this week. They have moved to Devithan, a safer location nearby the VDC office. Likewise, the landslides, which have continued since last four days have damaged the Lamosanghu-Jiri road connecting the district with Kathmandu, at three different places. A total of 13 settlements in the district are prone to landslides, according per District Administration Office (DAO), Dolakha.

In Lamjung, as many as 12 households at Phaleni VDC have also been displaced due to a massive landslide.

(Prem Chunara from Darchula, Santosh Singh from Sarlahi, Bir Bahadur Gadal from Baitadi, Ramesh Kumar Paudel from Chitawan and Narahari Sapkota from Gorkha, Ramesh Khatiwada from Dolakha and Kisan Sangeet Nepali from Lamjung contributed to this report.)