DAMAULI, SEPTEMBER 21

Flood in the Madi River has swept away a large strip of land in Bhateri of Byas Municipality, Tanahun.

According to local activist Ashok Kumar Shrestha, over 50 ropani land has been swept away by the flooded river in Bhateri at different times.

Citing risk of erosion, locals had been lobbying for an embankment in Bhateri area for some time.

Since the authorities had largely ignored their calls, the river has so far claimed a huge chunk of land.

Recently too, Shrestha (also a former member of Tanahun Chamber of Commerce and Industry), along with Mangal Prasad Shrestha and others reached Byas Municipality, Road Division Office, Water Resources and Irrigation Development Division Office and Land Reform and Management Office, demanding construction of an embankment in Bhateri.

Meanwhile, regular collection of garbage has been disrupted for the past few days after the site in Bhateri, which was being used by Byas Municipality as dumping site, was swept away.

The municipality is now using an alternative site — a strip of public land — to dispose of the town’s waste. Locals also fear that the river, which had already claimed Bhateri, posed a threat to Damauli bazaar as well.

Byas Municipality Mayor Baikuntha Neupane said the municipality was ready to do the needful to save the remaining land in Bhateri.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 22, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.