DHADING/RAUTAHAT/SIRAHA, JULY 1
Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have affected lives in different parts of the country.
One person has gone missing in the Trishuli river in Dhading. Twenty-year-old Laxman Bisural of Bishaltar, Benighat Rorang, had gone for fishing in the river. He has been missing since this morning.
According to Benighat Area Police Office, a team of the missing person's kin, locals and police personnel are searching for him. Search for the missing person is said to have been affected by the high water level.
Similarly, a flooded Malekhu River has caused some damage to the under-construction Hwasin Cement Industry in Talti of Benighat Rorang. Workers of the under-construction industry have been relocated to a safe area after floods entered the residential area used by workers.
Likewise, landslide buried a house in Pokharepani, Jwalamukhi Rural Municipality, this morning. Though the Malekhu-Mauwakhola road section along the Prithivi Highway has also been obstructed since last night due to multiple landslides near the Jawangkhola River in Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality, the road resumed from this afternoon after debris was cleared.
Meanwhile, a truck en route to Kathmandu from Birgunj that plunged into the Trishuli river yesterday hasn't been found so far.
In Rautahat, most of the farmland has been inundated due to floods in the Bagmati and Lal Bakaiya rivers and their tributaries which are running in full spate due to incessant rainfall. The flooded rivers flowing above the danger level have threatened human settlements.
A Dalit settlement in Badaharwa village in Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality has been surrounded by floods from all sides. Similarly, as the flooded Bagmati River heads towards Gaur, it has threatened human settlements in the district headquarters.
Realising the imminent danger, families living in the low-lying areas have been relocated to higher grounds.
Likewise, the swollen rivers have also posed threat to shelter-friendly embankments on the river fronts at different places.
While a spur to the south of a bridge in Dharampur, Gadhimai Municipality, is at risk of the flooded Bagmati River, Lal Bakaiya River is also posing risk to the embankment near Inarwa of Baudhimai Municipality.
Personnel of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been mobilised at the most risky places.
"Unless there is more rainfall in the hills, human settlements are safe for now. But in view of the risk, security personnel have been kept on high alert," said Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav.
Similarly, a bridge over the Kamala River on the postal highway, which was almost complete, has caved in. Due to flood in the river, one of the pillars of the bridge has sunk.
Chief District Officer Pradipraj Kanel said faulty design or misaligned design of the newly-built bridge could be the reason why it had sunk before being put into operation.
The long-awaited bridge linking Siraha and Dhanusha was taken over and built by Lumbini JV as the original contractor Pappu Construction stopped work after completing only 35 per cent of it.
Meanwhile, in view of the high water level in the river, the district administration office has urged the people living near the river areas to remain alert.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 2 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
