Floodwater gushes into houses in Anamnagar
Kathmandu, August 15
Around 500 houses on either side of the Dhobikhola River from Madan Bhandari Chowk to Bijulibazaar were inundated after floodwater from the swollen river gushed into the residential area.
Residents of Anamnagar were taken by surprise when they noticed floodwater entering their houses at 2:00am today. The water level continued to increase till 3:30am, according to the locals.
Officials at Meteorological Forecasting Division said heavy rainfall in the northern hilly parts of Kathmandu might have created a flash flood like situation. Officials, however, said they had not received rainfall data from the hill stations till late evening today. MFD has weather stations in Nagarkot and Shivapuri.
Shopkeepers and offices running from the ground floor were hit the worst by the flood.
According to Jeevan Ojha, owner of a video editing office, the water level in the office had reached waist high at around 3:00am. “Although we had time to save computers, two computers worth Rs 600,000 were damaged.” Although the water level receded after sunrise, the flood had left a layer of mud that was two feet deep in some places. Kathmandu Metropolitan City had mobilised an excavator to clear the debris left by the flood on the river corridor.
Lawmaker Prakash Man Singh visited the area later in the morning.
Deputy Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Basudev Ghimire said, “The incident occurred after the mildly swollen Dhobikhola River washed away an iron footbridge, which disturbed the natural flow of water. As a result, floodwater entered the residential area.”
Locals also blamed the under-construction arch-bridge at Bijulibazaar for flooding in the area. As the flow of water in the river was obstructed, water level started rising on the Anamnagar side, they said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Govinda Kafle at Metropolitan Police Circle Baneshwor said that they had received information about the flooding at 3:00am and found that 350 houses needed immediate support. “We were able to rescue 19 men, 21 women, 12 children and four elderly people from the site,” he said, adding there was no casualty in the incident and that they were yet to ascertain the damage caused by the flooding.
