Big boulder embankment work starts to tame Koshi

By Bhakti Bilash Pokharel,Gaighat, May 22: Construction has commenced on a big boulder slope in the Dhumribote area of Lahure in Belaka Rural Municipality-8, aimed at preventing floodwaters from entering the village from the Saptakoshi River. 

Following last year’s debilitating inundation caused by the flood of the Saptakosi dam, it is crucial to urgently construct this boulder slope at a highly sensitive location prone to potential dangers from Saptakoshi’s floods, locals said.

The construction of a 170-metre-long and three-metre-high boulder slope is underway, managed by the local consumer committee with an investment of approximately Rs. 7.3 million from the Water Resources and Irrigation Department. Chakra Bikram Singh, the project head of the Koshi and Bakraha River Management Office in Biratnagar, said.

Last year, a temporary embankment measuring approximately 200 metres in length was erected 23 days after the flood entered the village, with assistance from local residents once the water flow in the Koshi River was reduced. This year, a five-metre-wide and three-metre-high dam has been built using large stones placed within the Koshi’s waters.

Singh said that the current construction work involved a boulder slope that will be two metres high above the ground and five metres wide at the top. However, due to the absence of a permanent embankment, there remains a significant risk of flooding this year as well, potentially displacing around five hundred families. 

To address this, the consumer committee plans to construct a dam capable to control the floodwaters of the Koshi by utilizing stones weighing over two hundred kilograms, informed Sandesh Kulung Rai, the committee’s secretary.

During the previous year, the flood from the Saptakoshi River affected approximately 2,500 houses in Belaka Municipal Ward Nos. 2, 3, 8, and 9, as well as in Baraha Kshetra Municipality Nos. 6 and 9 in Sunsari district.

Raj Bantawa, a member of the monitoring committee, said that local individuals have politicized the ongoing disaster management work, obstructing the planned efforts. 

Tek Bahadur Bhattarai, chairman of the consumer committee, expressed concerns over anti-development groups hindering the extraction of stones from the local Kothu River, which has undergone environmental impact assessments. 

These groups are jeopardizing the safety of families in the Tappu area, despite the consumer committee’s formation based on an all-party consensus and its efforts to work in a conducive environment.

Singh said that since the Council of Ministers’ decision on May 17, 2023, a budget of Rs. 2 billion has been allocated to protect the Tappu residents from erosion risks by constructing additional embankments in the area.