Kathmandu, September 21

Heavy rain hit parts of Kathmandu Valley last night, leaving low-lying areas waterlogged.

The Khahare Khola gushed into 50 houses at Mulpani in Kageshwori Manahara-8. According to police, over 70 persons were rescued to safety after houses were submerged in waist-deep water.

Similarly, around 100 huts on the banks of the Bagmati River from Sinamangal to Baneshwor were submerged after flood entered the squatter’s settlement. Some vacated their houses in search of safer places while others spent the night salvaging their belongings.

In Bhaktapur, a flash flood swept away a 15-feet high compound wall of Rishi Ram Neupane’s house at Nilbarahi, Madhyapur Thimi-3, while a poultry farm belonging to Rajiv Lama, was submerged. Police said 739 chickens and ducks were killed in the flood.

Many houses in other parts of the Valley felt the brunt of heavy rain. The rain and floods also caused damage to standing and sprouting paddy crops, said the locals. The 24-hour rainfall in Kathmandu till 8:45 am was 24 mm, according to Meteorological Forecasting Division.

The MFD has forecast more rains till tomorrow due to the effect of low pressure area developed over the central and eastern regions of the country.

Other parts of the country also received heavy rainfall yesterday. Okhaldhunga station recorded 82 mm, Taplejung 37 mm, Nepalgunj 34 mm, Dhankuta 28 mm, Biratnagar 23 mm, Pokhara 15.5 and Dipayal 4 mm of rainfall.

MFD said light to moderate rain was likely to occur at many places of the eastern and central regions and at some places of the western region and there were chances of heavy rainfall at one or two places of the regions tomorrow.