Okhaldhunga, August 22

Landslide triggered by incessant rainfall has put more than two dozen settlements at high risk in Okhaldhunga district.

Ridges that had developed big cracks and holes due to the earthquake of April 25 came tumbling down and put many settlements in peril.

Gopikrishna Karki, a local from Prapcha VDC, said that delay in shifting the settlements below the hills could spell disaster at any time.

The mudslide washed away the houses of Shivraj Dahal and Purna Gurung at Siddicharan Municipality-11 yesterday night.

The landslip has put offices of the DAO, District Court, Land Revenue and Lali Gurans Boarding School in danger at Barnalu, Siddicharan Municipality.

Houses of Ramkaji Shrestha, Bhaikaji Shrestha, Rajan Shrestha, Suresh Shrestha, Madhav Maskey, and Raju Maskey in Siddhicharan-5, are also at a high risk.

While rainfall has blocked most of the roads, landslides have destroyed a suspension bridge that connects Mamkha and Ratmate VDCs over Kharte Khola.

The district has been hit hard by 22 landslides that have struck the district regularly. Twenty-six more mudslides triggered by the deadly quake of April 25 and incessant rainfall this monsoon have added to the woes of locals.

According to District Disaster Rescue Committee Okhaldhunga, six settlements lying at high risk of mudslide at Keureni of Prapcha, Kerabari of Harkapur, Bilandu, Ragani, among others, were evacuated and moved to safer places.

Assistant CDO Narendra Paudel said that the DAO had directed the VDC secretaries to collect a list of people at landslip-prone settlements for relocation. Assistant CDO Paudel said that his office had asked security personnel to stay on high alert as disaster could strike at any time as it had been raining incessantly for the last one week.