Slums on river banks inundated

Kathmandu, August 17

Some slum areas on the banks of the Bagmati River and Dhobikhola were inundated in Kathmandu after torrential rainfall yesterday night and in the wee hours this morning.

The slum dwellers were panic-stricken as the swollen rivers entered their settlements.

Some vacated their shanties in search of safer places while others spent the night salvaging their belongings.

Ram Bahadur Majhi, 45, residing in the slum area for that past 15 years said they had not faced such a situation in the past, but this time they were left high and dry after the river entered the slum area in Bjulibazaar at midnight.

He blamed the disaster on causeways made in different areas along the Bagmati River with huge hume pipes to widen the roads. He demanded removal of the causeways.

The slum dwellers were busy clearing waterlogged houses today. The flood had damaged the causeway in Dhobikhola, Bijulibazaar. The slums in Bhimsengola and Shantinagar on the banks of the Bagmati River and in Bijulibazaar on the banks of Dhobikhola were worst affected by rainfall.

The 24-hour rainfall in Kathmandu till 8:45am was 67.0 mm, according to Meteorological Forecasting Division.