Rautahat, June 20

With increasing water level in the Lal Bakaiya River, locals residing on the river banks are compelled to live sleepless nights due to fear of flood, in Rautahat.

According to the locals, the river has started eroding the embankment near Matiarwa Jiutahi village in Baudhimai Municipality-3.

After it was damaged by floods last year, the embankment was repaired.

The repair work was completed just about four months ago.

“The monsoon has just started and the embankment is already being eroded.

We don’t know what will happen when the monsoon is in full swing,” said local Shyam Prasad Yadav. “As the embankment was repaired by just piling bamboo, it hasn’t been strong enough like an embankment build of boulders,” Yadav added, pointing out the need to fortify the embankment to protect the human settlement.

Bidhimai Municipality Mayor Rajibranjan Yadav acknowledged the risk of flood and inundation if the river breached the embankment.

He accused Bagmati-Lal Bakaiya River Control Office and the federal government of ignoring the risk of flood in the river. “These authorities should have conducted timely repair of the embankment, but as they have failed to do their job, every year people in this region are facing loss of property and life,” said Yadav.

According to Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality Chairperson Arun Sah, the threat of floods loom large during the monsoon this year as the embankment breached by the floods in the Bagmati River in different places of Rajdevi Municipality, Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality, Madhav Narayan Municipality and Gadhimai Municipality last year are yet to be repaired.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 21, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.