Thousands displaced as river changes course
DHARAN, AUGUST 3
Flood triggered by rainfall in the Saptakoshi River breached the embankment at Lahure Khoch Dumribote in Belaka Municipality, Udayapur, today.
The floodwater has displaced thousands of people from Sunsari's Barahkshetra and Udayapur's Belaka Municipality. After breaching the embankment, the Koshi has returned to its old course towards the west after 40 years. Locals have migrated to safer places after the floodwater gushed into Srilanka Tapu, said local Bikram Pandey.
Sunsari Chief District Officer Indra Desh Yadav said personnel of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and Nepali Army had been deployed to control the flood, but to no avail.
Barahakshetra Municipality's Mayor Ramesh Karki said the floodwater had left hundreds of families in the lurch. The flood has inundated human settlements at Dhauri, Durgapur, Ekata Basti, Ramnagar, and Shantinagar in Belaka Municipality, said Karki.
In Wards 6 and 9 of Srilanka Tapu in Barahkshetra, more than 5,000 people have been affected by the breach of embankment. In Belaka Municipality, 18,000 people were displaced by the flooding.
Around 1,000 people who were marooned have been rescued so far.
The Koshi breached the embankment at 2:00am today and the water gushed into Udayapur's Belaka.
The river had been eroding the embankment since yesterday.
Province 1 Chief Minister Rajendra Rai expressed serious concern about the floods caused by the Saptakoshi River. Rai, who is in isolation after testing positive for COVID, expressed concern by issuing a press note. He has urged people living downstream to migrate to safer places at the earliest. He pledged to provide necessary relief to the victims as early as possible.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 4, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
