NEPALGUNJ, July 16

Heavy rainfall yesterday night has left parts of Banke and Bardia districts inundated.

Due to the rain that lasted from 10:00pm yesterday till on Thursday morning, places like Setu BK Chowk, Gharbari Tole, Sitalnagar, Bulbuliya, Shantinagar and Bilaspur areas of Nepalgunj were inundated.

Locals, however, have attributed the inundation caused by the rainwater to an ongoing project in the sub-metropolis.

Currently, the municipality is running an integrated urban development project for the management of road, drainage and garbage funded by Asian Development Bank. As per the project worth around 1 billion rupees, construction of roads and drains are on.

According to municipality executive officer Bishnu Prasad Bhusal, around half a dozen settlements have been waterlogged due to the overnight rain in the municipal area.

As per the Hydrology and Meteorology office of Ranjha, Nepalgunj witnessed 243.7 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, the highest precipitation this year so far.

Torrential rainfall has also put a number of VDCs including Holiya, Betahani, Gangapur and Matehiya in the district at risk after the water level in the Rapti River rose.

Acting Chief District Officer of Banke Jagat Bahadur Basnet said his office has directed people living on the river front to be alert in case of any emergency.

In Bardia, around 100 houses in and around Kakaura and Bansgadhi have been inundated due to rainwater that accumulated on the ground following the heavy rainfall.