Chure settlements at risk of flash floods

Hetauda, August 14

Human settlements in Chure areas of Hetauda sub-metropolis and Manahari Rural Municipality of Makawanpur are at high risk of flash floods.

Locals of Ward Nos 8, 12, 13 and 14 of the sub-metropolis and Ward Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the rural municipality are living in fear of possible flash floods due to incessant rainfall.

Locals of the Chure area also face food crisis as their arable land has been swept away by floods.

“Every year we face a hard time due to floods,” said Umakanta Acharya, 100, of the sub-metropolis. He said floods might destroy human settlements at any time. Flash floods also wreak havoc in Bakaiya and Bagmati rural municipalities in the eastern part of Makawanpur every year.

According to District Land Conservation Office, Makawanpur, there are as many as 100 canyons in the district. A study revealed that the Chure areas became more prone to natural disasters such as landslide, erosion and flash floods after the devastating earthquakes of 2015.

According to the study, a total of 15,660 hectare land, which is only 6.49 per cent of the total land area in the district, is safe from such disasters. The study also revealed that 74,132 hectare land, which is 30.73 per cent of the total land area, is at great risk of flash floods and landslips.

Chief at the Conservation Office Raju Dahal said around 63 per cent land was at high risk of land erosion. Chief of Chure Committee, Makawanpur, Basnata Gautam said different programmes had been launched for conservation of the Chure area in the past seven years.