Damak, September 5:

Swollen Kankai and Kamal rivers have put two villages in Jhapa district in peril. The two rivers have swept away the Dudhe-Mahabhara-Kunjibari road in Bhansar, Giddhigaun and Rangiyathan, putting Mahabhara and Korobari VDCs at the risk of inundation, said Bijay Agrawal, a former chairman of Mahabhara VDC.

“Hundreds of people will be displaced if the swollen rivers gush into the VDCs,” he

said, adding, “The flooded Kankai has displaced 25 families from Mahabhara VDC

and rendered around 300 bighas of land barren.”

The rivers have caused erosion in Kunjibari, Dhunganabasti, Devighada, Jantachauri and Jaliyabasti of Mahabhara. The flooded rivers have put the Jana Kalyan Secondary School, which lies on the border of ward nos. 3 and 4 of the VDC, in peril, Agrawal further said.

Kankai is also causing erosion in ward nos 6 and 8 of Shivgunj VDC. It has begun washing away the road linking Mahabhara with Panchgachhi VDCs, local residents said.

A committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Balaram Thapaliya,

a social worker, to take measures to control erosion along the Dudhe-Mahabhara-Kunjibari road.

Meanwhile, local residents of Lakhanpur VDC have urged the Jhapa District Administration Office to provide relief to people whose land has been washed away by the Ratuwa river.

A team led by CA member from Jhapa-7 Bishwodip Lingden met Jhapa CDO Shankar Prasad Koirala yesterday. It urged the CDO to take measures to tame Ratuwa.

Ratuwa has affected people of Damak municipality and Lakhanpur VDC the most.