Landslides, floods damage property worth Rs 11.81 billion in Ilam

Ilam, Nov 4: Landslides and floods following incessant rainfall occurred on October 4 and 5 damaged property worth Rs 11.81 billion in Ilam district. 

Chief District Officer Sunita Nepal shared that the flood and landslide had damaged different roads, bridges, buildings, drinking water projects, irrigation projects, agriculture and livestock sectors in the district.

As per the preliminary details of losses gathered by 11 respective offices including Road Division, Infrastructure Development Office, Nepal Electricity Authority and Water Resources and Irrigation Division, such amount of property was damaged, added Nepal. 

Eleven different projects under road division suffered damages, causing a loss of Rs 6.96 billion. Similarly, property worth Rs 2.34 billion was damaged towards road, Rs 850 million towards bridges and Rs 40 million towards building under infrastructure development office. 

According to the District Administration Office, projects under Nepal Electricity Authority suffered a loss of Rs 24.7 million while landslide and flood damaged property amounted to more than Rs 328 million  under Water Resources and Irrigation Division. 

Likewise, more than 40 million rupees was damaged in the incident of natural disaster under Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Expert Centre.

According to Chief District Officer (CDO) Nepal, under the Dhankuta Field Unit Office, Water Supply and Sewerage Management Department, damages to 29 drinking water projects amounted to Rs 287.5 million, while under the Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office, Bhadrapur, Jhapa, 223 projects incurred losses of Rs 280.1 million.

Likewise, food and cash crops cultivated on 892.32 hectares of land by 3,409 farmers were damaged by the disasters, causing losses of Rs 274.9 million. Such losses have been recorded under the Agricultural Knowledge Centre. Similarly, under the National Tea and Coffee Development Board’s Tea Expansion Programme, 25 tea estates suffered losses of about Rs 47.55 million.

Nepal Telecom incurred losses amounting to Rs 508,000 from damages to 10 optical fiber and cable lines, while under the Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project, Gainde, Jhapa, 31 projects were affected by landslides, resulting in losses of Rs 329 million.

CDO Nepal told RSS that damage details have already been presented to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the respective ministries.

“The preliminary damage assessment was gathered from the respective sectoral offices within the district, in coordination and facilitation with the concerned local governments,” he added.

It may be noted that in Ilam, 39 people died, 26 were injured, and one person remains missing in the disasters that displaced 711 households. Of the displaced, 700 are staying with relatives, while 11 are taking shelter in community buildings, according to the District Administration Office.

Floods and landslides completely destroyed 365 houses and partially damaged 940 houses across 10 local levels in the district of Koshi Province.(RSS)