GAIGHAT, JULY 1

Security personnel and locals have started working to instal gabion wall after rain-fuelled Saptakoshi River changed its course and began eroding its temporary western embankment towards Udayapur.

Personnel of Nepal Police, Nepal Army, along with locals, are working to protect the embankment from being swept away by the swollen river.

The temporary embankment was constructed years ago. In the wake of the incessant rainfall, after the swollen river threatened to breach the embankment and posed risk to the human settlement nearby, Belaka Municipality has started repairing the embankment.

Police, along with locals, have started the repair work by using heavy equipment, such as tractors, tippers and excavators. 'The swollen river has already started eroding the embankment. If there is more rainfall, the river is sure to breach the embankment and flood Tapeshwori and Bhagalpur areas,' said Belaka Municipality Mayor Ashok Karki.

Further, Karki lamented that the government hadn't heeded the call to construct a permanent embankment towards the west of the river for long now. 'As per the Koshi agreement, India should have constructed an embankment towards the west, but no embankment has been built so far,' he said, adding an Indian technicians' team had monitored the erosion and returned earlier.

Udayapur's Belaka Municipality-2,3,8 lie in the western flank of the Saptakoshi River. There is a dense human settlement in this region.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.