14 die, two missing as monsoon wreaks havoc across country

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June, 27: At least 14 persons were killed, eight were injured and two others have gone missing in monsoon-induced natural calamities like landslides, lightning and floods in different parts of the country on Wednesday alone.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, of the total fatalities, eight died in landslides with five left injured and five others died in lightning and one in flood.

Dijan Bhattarai, Under-Secretary and Spokesperson for the NDRRMA, said that in the last 24 hours, five died in landslides in Lamjung, two in Pokhara, Kaski and one in Okhaldhunga. 

Similarly, lightning claimed five lives across the country. Of them, two died in Jhapa, one in Sunsari, two in Sunchhahari Rural Municipality-3 in Rolpa. One man died of flooding in Sundarharaicha Municipality-5 while he was fishing in the local Budhi River. 

Incessant rainfall since Tuesday night in Lamjung resulted in five deaths due to landslides that swept away houses. 

Two people were injured in the landslide. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Min Ghale from the District Police Office Lamjung, four locals died in Kwholasothar Rural Municipality-3 and one in Dordi Rural Municipality-9.

In Pachyu Tole of Bagum, Kwhlosothar Rural Municipality-3, three houses were swept away by the landslide, resulting in the deaths of four members from a family. 

The deceased were identified as 69-year-old Rudraman Gurung, 36-year-old Pancha Kumari Gurung, and her two daughters, seven-year-old Ichchha Gurung and five-year-old Namrata Gurung. 

The landslide also swept away the houses of Rudraman Gurung, Panchakumari Gurung, and the Head of the Planning Section of the Rural Municipality, Chitra Ghale. Chitra’s brother, Bhim Bahadur Ghale, was injured in the landslide.

According to DSP Ghale, in Dordhi-9, Dhaireeni, 16-year-old Bikal Sunar died when the house of Ramkaji Sunar collapsed, and 18-year-old Milan Sunar was injured. 

Ghale said, “We have received information that five villagers have died, and we are heading to the incident site, further details are yet to come.”

Likewise, 13-year-old Ayushma Ranabhat died when a house collapsed in a landslide in Chitepani of Madi Rural Municiplaity-5, Kaski. 

She was sleeping with her grandmother Lalmaya Banjari, 70. The landslip occurred at 2 am on Wednesday. Banjari was rescued alive. 

Likewise, three-year-old Anamol Sunar died when a house collapsed at Arupata in Ward No. 28 of Pokhara Metropolis at 3 am on Wednesday. 

Anamol’s 27-year-old mother Ritu was rescued and has been admitted to Gandaki Medical College. Deputy Superintendent of Police and spokesperson for Kaski Police Basanta Kumar Sharma said that the condition of Ritu was critical.   

Roads and villages inundated in Sunsari 

Meanwhile, our correspondent Jaya Krishna Yadav from Inaruwa, stated that incessant rainfall has caused flooding in various areas including Inaruwa Municipality of Sunsari. 

Locals have reported flooding in different parts of Sunsari due to the incessant rains.

Three days of continuous rain have resulted in inundation in rural wards of Inaruwa and Duhabi municipalities, and settlements around the rivers in Barju and Gadhi Rural Municipalities. 

In Ward 2 of Inaruwa, the main road from Bihibare Haat and Popular Chowk to Babiya has been submerged under two to three feet of water. 

Local resident Rabindra Yadav said that the waterlogged road has created difficulties for vehicles and pedestrians. Similarly, ward numbers 3, 4, 9, and 10 of Inaruwa Municipality have experienced flooding as water from the Sunsari river entered the settlements near the river, according to Radha Khatwe. 

According to Bishnu Urab of Inaruwa 4, settlements in Khikhari Tole, Babiya Kupi Tole, Shukrabare Tole, and Malaha Tole were submerged. 

Additionally, the erosion caused by the Gadan and Sunsari rivers has damaged arable land, according to Santosh Yadav of Gadhi-5. 

Flooding in the Sunsari, Gadan, Dhanuasha, Budhi, and Mariya rivers has troubled the residents living nearby.

Although reports of flooding have come in, there have been no reports of displacement or significant human or physical damage, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Nabin Krishna Bhandari, Spokesperson for the District Police Office, Sunsari. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology had issued a warning to every citizen via mobile notification on Wednesday morning, indicating a flood risk in the Sunsari river and urging people in coastal areas and low-lying flood-prone areas to exercise extreme caution.

Downpour affects life in Biratnagar

Meanwhile, our correspondent Sashidhar Parajuli from Biratnagar stated that heavy downpours that started since Tuesday night in most of the areas in Biratnagar have inundated several places. The inundation has significantly affected the daily life of the residents of Biratnagar.

There has been continuous heavy rainfall in Biratnagar for the past seven hours. The lack of proper drainage has led to water accumulation in both urban and rural areas. 

The water that has accumulated in residential areas has entered concrete houses, and the rise in river levels has put settlements along the riverbanks at risk.

Most roads in the market area were filled with water, making it difficult to move around, and water has entered the mud houses, causing problems for the general public.

The flood in the Kesaliya River has submerged more than two dozen houses in Bakari, Daraiya, Barahatole, Malauna, and Simrahi of Biratnagar-12. Ward member of Biratnagar-12, Kusheshwar Rajbanshi, said that the families in the submerged houses had been relocated to a nearby community building and Bakari School.

Flooding in rivers has submerged 

some houses in wards 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18 of Biratnagar, said Gyanendra Bahadur Basnet, Spokesperson and Deputy Superintendent of Police for the District Police Office, Morang.

Although there is a problem of inundation in Biratnagar, no information on human casualties has been reported so far, according to the police. Police, local youths, and representatives were deployed in various places to assist those affected by the inundation.

One person has died and two have sustained serious injuries as a house and a shed were buried by a landslide triggered by incessant rainfall since Tuesday night. The incident occurred in Chishankhugadhi Rural Municipality-5, Thumki, Okhaldhunga, where a mud-stone house belonging to 39-year-old Baburam Khatri was buried. His 35-year-old wife, Dev Kumari Khatri, died in the event. 

According to Police Inspector Bijaya Karki from the District Police Office, Okhaldhunga, Baburam Khatri himself and his 18-year-old daughter Menuka Khatri were seriously injured in the landslide. The injured have been rescued and sent to hospital for treatment, Inspector Karki said. Additionally, three buffaloes and 14 goats buried in the landslide were rescued alive.

(With inputs from Amar Raj Naharki from Tanahun, Phadindra Adhikari from Kaski, Sashidhar Parajuli from Biratnagar, Jaya Krishna Yadav from Sunsari)