Nation receives moderate to heavy monsoon rains

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 3: The country has been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall as the monsoon trough becomes active. 

The Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has alerted people nationwide about the moderate to heavy rainfall affecting all seven provinces.

Min Kumar Aryal, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division, stated that the rainfall is likely to continue until Saturday. “Even though it might be sunny in the morning, there will be moderate to heavy rainfall in the evening throughout the country,” he said.

Kailali recorded the heaviest rainfall in the last 24 hours until 6 pm, on Tuesday, with 129.2 mm. Similarly, Dhanusha received 116.2 mm, Sindhupalchok received 108.8 mm, Ilam received 98 mm, Bardiya received 96.2 mm and Kaski received 92.8 mm of rainfall during this period.

Meanwhile, our correspondent Janarjan Khatri from Sarlahi reported that Shivnagar village in Kaudena Rural Municipality-7, Sarlahi, has been submerged for six days due to repeated washouts of the embankment by the Lakhandehi River.

The heavy rainfall on June 26 in the northern part of the district caused the Lakhandehi River to flood, breaking the embankment and inundating Shivnagar village in the southern region of Kaudena Rural Municipality-7. 

As soon as the floodwaters entered the village, the rural municipality began repairing the embankment.

Chairman of Kaudena Rural Municipality, Rupesh Kumar Yadav (Bablu) reported that despite repairing the embankment four times, repeated flooding has continuously washed the embankments away. The flooding has put 300 households at risk.

Yadav said that over two dozen households have been inundated for six days. The rural municipality said that there is no soil at the site of the embankment breach, and even when they manage to repair it, the floodwaters wash it away within a short time.

Continuous rainfall has hampered embankment repair efforts. The daily lives of the locals affected by the flooding have become extremely difficult.

A few days ago, a team led by Defense Minister Hari Prasad Upreti conducted a site inspection after the flooding washed away the embankment, putting the village at risk. On Tuesday, Madhes Province’s Home, Communications, and Law Minister, Bimala Ansari also inspected the flooded area.

Similarly, our Janakpurdham correspondent Laxmi Chaudhary reported that Madhes Province organised an interaction programme on disaster management.

Speaking at the intergovernmental relationship-strengthening interaction programme on disaster management, held in Janakpurdham on Tuesday, Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh of the Madhes Province said that the three-tier government must play a coordinating role in the province’s disaster management.

Chief Minister Singh stressed the need for coordination among federal, provincial, and local governments in managing disasters.

He said that flood mitigation through the construction of embankments in flood-prone areas is the priority in all eight districts of Madhes Province during the rainy season. “To prevent floods, awareness programmes should be conducted before the floods arrive, and disaster response drills should be promoted,” he said.

Disaster training can help reduce problems arising from disasters, therefore, solutions should be sought before problems occur. Chief Minister Singh asserted that the coordinating role of the three-tier government could prevent extensive damage from disasters in the province.

Chief Minister Singh expressed confidence that Tuesday’s interaction programme would yield positive results. “To solve any problem, solutions should be sought before the problem arises. We should be ready with concrete plans to mitigate the menace caused by the monsoon, he added.

During the programme, the Chief District Officers of all eight districts in the province highlighted the problems faced by their districts, citing a lack of resources and manpower in disaster management.

They said that some areas lack skilled manpower while others face a shortage of resources. Raising public awareness is crucial to mitigate recurrent disasters like fires, floods, and inundations in most parts of the province, and a coordinated effort from all three tiers of government is necessary.

“There have been issues with the distribution of relief during disasters due to mismanagement, resulting in some people receiving more aid and others receiving none. Thus, the need for provincial government representatives to monitor relief distribution during disasters was highlighted,” they said. They also suggested that future physical infrastructure projects should be carried out with input from skilled technicians.

The Armed Police Force has deployed teams for disaster management and they said that there was a need for more resources and equipment, despite their efforts with existing resources.

The programme, organised by the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of the Province, the Province and Local Governance Support Programme, and the Provincial Programme Implementation Unit, Janakpur Dham, was chaired by Provincial Home, Communications and Law Minister Bimala Ansari. 

The event was attended by Provincial Finance Minister Bharat Prasad Sah, Health and Population Minister Satrudhan Prasad Singh, Physical Infrastructure Development Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav, Forest and Environment Minister Tribhuvan Sah, Provincial Secretary, heads of security agencies from all three tiers of government and chiefs of local government and administration.