Floods put people at high risk

Rautahat, May 8

Lakhs of people are at high risk of floods after the authority concerned did not repair the flood damaged dams in dozen places near the Bagmati and Lalbakaiya rivers in Rautahat and Sarlahi.

Floods had caused massive destruction last year. The physical constructions were damaged after dams collapsed in nine places of the Bagmati River and 22 places of the Lalbakaiya River.

Dipendra Yadav, a local of Rajpur Municipality said the collapsed dams have yet to be repaired ever since last year’s monsoon. “The locals in the areas are anxious,” he added. He said that the state should take the initiative to reconstruct the dams.

Another victim, Mahindra Thakur Lohar of Khairwa of Inaruwa, Sarlahi, said that most people in the district have started to find safe places as the concerned authority has yet to take the initiative to repair the dams.

Water Induced Disaster and River Control Division Number 3, Bara Chief Raj Kumar Shreebastab said his office had sent the first report of the damaged infrastructure in Lalbakaiya and Bagmati rivers to the department and the ministry. He said construction work was yet to start due to the lack of budget. “We have sent the report with an estimation of 20 crore rupees to the upper level for the reconstruction of dams,” he added.

The victims urged Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Chief Minister Lal Babu Raut to take the issue seriously. They added that the issue must be kept in top priority and help should be sought from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi if it was impossible for Nepal Government to manage the budget.