POKHARA, July 1: Two persons lost their lives in Tanahun after a house collapsed following a landslide caused by continuous rainfall in the region on Wednesday night. The natural disaster has blocked the Prithvi Highway and has destroyed houses and crops at various places as well.
According to Yuvraj Timalsina, Deputy Superintendent of Police, two females were killed in Bandipur Rural Municipality-3 after their house collapsed due to the landslide on Wednesday night. Their bodies were recovered in the morning. The deceased have been identified as 70-year-old Harimaya Nepali and 30-year-old Saraswati Thapa.
Also, three members of the family were injured in the landslide as well. As informed by the police, they are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Damauli.
Five sections of various highways remain completely blocked
According to DSP Timalsina, many landslides have occurred in various areas along the Prithvi Highway. The roads at Dumre, Chirkan and Kumlekhola have been blocked by landslidesl. “Clearing the landslide debris and opening the blocked highway has not been possible due to the continuous landslides,” Timalsina said. “The recurring landslides have been blocking the roads despite them being cleared earlier,” he added.
As stated by Puran Singh Thapa, chief of Bandipur Rural Municipality, as many as 100 homes in the areas were partially damaged by the landslide. Also, nearly a dozen homes have been completely damaged by landslides. Apart from that, the crops which were almost ready for harvest were also destroyed by the landslides. “Bandipur has never witnessed such heavy damages from floods and landslides in the past,” Thapa said.
Similarly, a health post and lower parts of Dumre have been inundated due to flooding in the Chundi River. Likewise, a concrete motorable bridge connecting Byas Municipality-1 and 16 of Tanahun district has been swept away by the flood.
According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the Bimalnagar area of Bandipur-4 in Tanahun is still witnessing heavy rainfall at the moment. The warning siren has been rung in Bimalnagar, following 196 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. Similarly, Bandipur and Sankhar Rural Municipality in Tanahun district and Rainastar in Lamjung have also been witnessing heavy rainfall
