KATHMANDU, JUNE 19 Meteorological Forecasting Division has predicted moderate to heavy rainfall throughout the country over the next three days. “Monsoon trough line is now located close to Nepal from Uttar Pradesh of India and will continue to exist from the eastern to the western parts of the country for the next few days, bringing more rains,” read a weather forecast bulletin released by MFD today. It said the monsoon rain was likely to lash Province 1, Province 2, Bagmati Province and Gandaki Province in the next 24 hours. “Heavy rainfall may trigger increase of water level in many rivers, leading to inundation and landslide. Therefore, we would like to appeal to all to maintain high alert against the possibility of natural disasters,” read the bulletin. MFD has also forecast obstruction in air and road transportation due to bad weather conditions. Flood Forecasting Section under Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said there were risks of flash floods in the rivers across the country. It said the rivers in Nawalparasi, Kapilvastu, Palpa, Gulmi, Rukum, Dailekh and Surkhet had high chances of experiencing flash floods. However, it said that the water level in major rivers would remain below the danger mark for a few days. DHM issues a flood forecast bulletin at 7:00am everyday. Under special circumstances, it may circulate the warning at anytime. It said flood and weather forecast was provided to the National Emergency Operation Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs before publishing it on the website. The forecast is provided to all the ministries, departments, Nepal Red Cross Society and organisations working for disaster risk management, besides publishing it on social media. If the water level of rivers reaches or is likely to reach the red mark, general public of the concerned areas will be alerted through SMS by Nepal Telecom and Ncell, according to the monsoon response plan implemented by DHM. It is also operating a toll-free number:1155 for providing early information to the general public. As many as 161 people were killed across the country during the monsoon last year, according to MoHA. Natural disasters affected 6,168 families directly. More than 5,100 houses were destroyed or partially damaged, displacing people temporarily or rendering many homeless. The most affected districts were Gulmi, Rautahat, Rukum West, Rolpa, Siraha, Lalitpur, Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa and Bardiya. Property worth Rs 1,455,246,900 was damaged by disasters during the period, said MoHA. A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.