Biratnagar, July 31:

Villages in the east and western parts of the country are submerged in flood water and thousands of people are awaiting rescue while some are starving.

In Itahara, Sijuwa and Govindapur VDCs in Morang districts were inundated by floodwaters. Over five bighas of arable land was waterlogged at Letang in northern Morang. The Morang district police office said crops worth Rs 100,000 have been damaged. Plots of land belonging to some 15 peasants have also been eroded, police said. Landslide caused by rainfall has displaced 15 families in Nundhaki-9 Dandakharka of Sankhuwasabha.

Some 15 families including those of Kalu Sherpa and Chetan Gurung displaced by the landslide have arrived at Chainpur in Dangi village, Dharan. Some 25 families in the area are at the risk of a landslide, headmaster at Gufapokhari primary school Heema Khanal said.

Earlier, two houses were swept away by landslide at Ankhibhui VDC while six families were displaced. Rainfall is likely to further lash the area.

The Flooded Saptakoshi river has started eroding a dam built by the Chinese government at Shukrabare in Mahendranagar-4 of Sunsari. No 18 spur of the dam is under threat, the Mahendranagar area police office said.

The water level in the Saptakoshi has gone up today. The flow of water was 257,596 cusec at 10:00 am today, the Koshi barrage post said.

Around 2,500 flood victims in Sunsari, demanding relief materials, staged a sit-in at the district administration office and padlocked the municipality office yesterday. Chief district officer Prem Narayan Sharma said the natural disast er relief committee has provided them emergency relief materials.

Meanwhile, Minister for Home Affairs Krishna Prasad Sitaula toured flood ravaged areas in Mahottari today.

While appealing all to extend cooperation to the flood victims in Mahottari, he handed over a cheque of Rs 1 million to chief district officer Netra Prasad Sharma. Minister Sitaula urged political parties, Nepal Red Cross, different organisations, police, army for coordination and continue relief assistance to the flood victims.

Also in Mahottari today a woman, Tasaliya Miya, of Sarapallo VDC-8 drowned in a flooded manhole today. She was fleeing after her home started collapsing due to heavy rains.

In Kailali, Nepal Red Cross Society district branch Kailali distributed 550 kilograms of sugar, 35 quintals of beaten rice and 127 cartons of noodles today, NRCS Kailali chairman Hem Raj Ojha said. Difficulty in landing the helicopter deprived 450 members of 67 households at Thapapur Kandadhik from relief materials, chief district officer Chhetra Bahadur Bhandari said.

Media persons, chief district officer Chhetra Bahadur Bhandari, SSP Ganesh Rai, SP Laba Bista and district chairman of NRCS Ojha toured the flood affected areas in the helicopter today. Rescue officials have asked for rafts from Bardiya to conduct rescue operation and they are arriving tomorrow, Ojha said.

Nepal Red Cross Society, Kailali district unit, has dispatched food materials to Tikapur, Lalbojhi VDC, Bhajani, Narayanpur and Dhansinghpur.

In Nepalgunj flood victims of Gharbaritole, Nepalgunj-2, halted traffic at Birendrachowk today saying the concerned bodies have not attempted to give outlet to the water-logged road. “Though our houses are inundated no one has come for relief yet,” said a local, Rammurat Maurya.

The Red Cross, however, said it had been distributing relief to the flood-hit people. Meanwhile, the Care Nepal on Tuesday distributed 4,000 kg of beaten-rice to the flood victims.