KATHMANDU, Sept 13: The devastating Bhotekoshi flood has damaged 7,570 private buildings across five districts and displaced 32,963 people from 8,317 families, according to a joint assessment by the National Planning Commission and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
The severe flood entered the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa from Tibet on August 26 and swept downstream through the Trishuli and Narayani rivers. The disaster was triggered after an intense debris flow caused by an avalanche in the Lehandekhola watershed area entered the Bhotekoshi River, causing extensive damage to settlements and infrastructure.
Nuwakot was the worst-affected district, with 3,977 private buildings damaged. Rasuwa reported damage to 1,779 buildings, followed by Dhading with 1,451, Gorkha with 263 and Chitwan with 100.
Flood displaces 285 families in Sunsari
Among local governments, Bidur Municipality suffered the greatest damage, with 3,026 buildings affected. It was followed by Gosainkunda Rural Municipality in Rasuwa and Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality in Dhading.
The preliminary assessment estimates that damage to private buildings and household property alone exceeds Rs 63.08 billion. Of this, around Rs 38.93 billion was attributed to damage to building structures and Rs 24.95 billion to household assets.
Around Rs 95.82 billion will be required to restore and reconstruct the damaged buildings, according to the assessment. The estimated cost covers debris removal, temporary housing, drinking water and sanitation, building assessments, repairs and reconstruction.
However, the report said it would be possible to determine which houses can be repaired, which require reconstruction and which need to be relocated because of disaster risks only after further field inspections and household-level verification.
Overall, the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli-Narayani flood is estimated to have caused more than Rs 408.28 billion in physical and economic losses.
More than Rs 723 billion will be required for the overall rehabilitation, reconstruction and disaster risk reduction efforts in the affected areas, according to the assessment.
