Monsoon comes crashing

Kathmandu, June 26: With the onset of the monsoon season, the country has begun seeing heavy rains and rain-induced disasters. As per the bulletin issued by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), downpour had caused more than Rs. 100,000 in damages in Tokha, Kathmandu and had damaged a house in Hemja, Kaski.

According to the bulletin, which included the 24-hour period from 10 am Friday to 10 am Saturday, 50 chickens drowned when water entered the shed they were kept in at Bhetghat Chowk, in Tokha Municipality–4. This caused damages worth Rs. 150,000 to the poultryman.

In Hemja, Pokhara Metropolitan City–25, a wall of a house collapsed. 

Adding to this, our Pokhara correspondent reports that floods brought on by Friday’s rain damaged or inundated more than 600 houses in Suinkhet, Hemja. Motiraj Timilsina, chairman of Pokhara Ward No. 25, said that the water had completely destroyed two houses and partially damaged 15 more.

Timilsina informed that the settlements from Myagdichowk to Sundarpuri were submerged. Ward member Suvash Bhandari also informed that the dam built on the Chaurasi canal had also collapsed due to the flood.

The Suinkhet River flooded around 11 pm, according to the locals. 

Meanwhile, the Armed Police Force (APF) of Kaski has evacuated 300 people from about 70 households in Suikhet following Friday’s bout of heavy rain.

The APF personnel deployed under the command of Armed Police Superintendent Bijaya KC from Armed Police Force Nepal No. 24 Battalion, Kalika has also shifted the goods and livestock belonging to the locals to a safe place. 

Going by a press release issued by APF headquarters, Halchowk on Saturday, about 14 goats were also buried in a landslide induced by the shower.

Fortunately, no injuries or casualties were reported at both Tokha and Hemja.

Floods have also inundated parts of Bhajani Municipality and the market area of Tikapur Municipality in Kailali on Saturday. It did not rain very heavily in the region but still the two cities were flooded because of lack of proper drainage, the locals told The Rising Nepal.

Keval Prasad Chaudhary, mayor of Bhajani, however, blamed the city’s residents for covering the drains with haphazardly placed construction materials. “The problem is the worst in ward no. 3,” he said.

In Sindhupalchowk, a flooded Melamchi River washed away the temporary bridge at Phatte, Melamchi Municipality–11 on Friday night.

The temporary bridge had been constructed in place of a concrete one which the river washed away when it flooded catastrophically on June 15 last year.

Staying in Melamchi Municipality, early warning sirens have been installed in various locations at Melamchi Market, Talamarang and Bahunepati. 

Mayor of the municipality Aaita Man Tamang said that the sirens had been installed to prevent the loss of life and property on the same heartbreaking scale as last year.

The municipality informed that it set up the sirens at its own cost.

On a separate note, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has issued flood warnings for the Trishuli, Budhigandaki, Marsyangdi and Rapti rivers and their tributaries and has stated that flash floods can occur in the rivers and rivulets of Province 1, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini on Sunday.

It has also warned that water levels in the rivers and streams of Province 1, Madhes, Bagmati and Sudurpashchim could reach or exceed the warning level on Monday.

Similarly, the Meteorological Forecasting Division has predicted light to moderate rain accompanied by lightening in the hilly regions of the country for Sunday. A few places in Gandaki, Karnali and Lumbini though may see heavy showers.

The country will see cloud cover on Monday but only a couple of places in Gandaki will see heavy rain. As night falls though, Province 1 and Sudurpashchim provinces may also see rainfall, the Division forecasts.

(With inputs from our reporter Purushottam P. Khatri and correspondents in Pokhara, Dhangadhi and Sindhupalchowk)