Nepalgunj/Dang, August 12

Over 4,000 houses have been inundated by the flooded Rapti River in Banke, leaving hundreds of houses damaged and over a hundred cattle dead in the natural disaster.

According to acting Chief District Officer of Banke Krishna Bahadur Khadka, several places including Baijapur, Binauna, Kusum, Kachanapur, Fattepur, Duduwa, Holiya, Gangapur, Chauferi Kamdi of Rapti Sonari and Tikulipur Duduwa rural municipalities have been submerged in floodwaters.

At Khaskushma in Kusum, over a dozen houses have collapsed due to floods. “The entire village has been inundated and 70-odd cattle have died after floodwaters from Sikta Irrigation Project gushed into human settlements,” said Pratap Shah, a local.

Khadka said Nepal Police, Nepali Army and Armed Police Force personnel had been deployed in the flood-hit areas for rescue work. “We have been unable carry out rescue work in some flood-affected areas due to inclement weather,” he said.

As many as 17 households at Bangaudi of Bansgadhi in Bardiya have been displaced due to flood in the local Mankhola river. Likewise, 13 houses have been washed away by the swollen Babai river at Phulbari of Tulsipur in Dang metropolis.

Similarly, six houses caved in at Goltakuri of Dagishran Rural Municipality in Dang and over 40 houses have been inundated by the flooded river. In a similar vein, 13 houses have been swept away by the flooded Tuhikhola river in Ambapur, Damargaun, Majaghatuwa and seven other houses have been washed away by the rain-fed Phirangikhola river.

Likewise, seven houses at Amiliya in Lamahi Municipality-9 have collapsed due to flood in a local rivulet. Transport services along the Ghorahi-Tulsipur road section and the Ghorahi-Lamahi stretch have been disrupted due to floods.