Nepal Urges Villagers to Evacuate After Landslide Triggers Flooding

Reuters

A drone view shows mud covering properties after the flash flood Nepal earlier this year..

Nepali authorities urged villagers to move to safer locations on Sunday after a river flood in the country’s central region swept away several houses and damaged infrastructure. No casualties had been reported.

A landslide in Chumnubri village in Gorkha district, around 100 kilometres west of Kathmandu, blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, causing flooding downstream, authorities said.

The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli River. Further downstream, another tributary was the site of a glacier collapse that triggered a catastrophic flood in August, killing 1,457 people, with thousands more still missing.

“We have asked villagers living along the river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe,” said Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the senior administrative official in Gorkha district.

Mishra said around a dozen houses and two suspension bridges had been swept away, while a camp at a hydroelectric project had also been damaged.

The river, carrying muddy sediment, continued to rise and had washed away a highway bridge linking Gorkha with neighbouring Dhading district, said Dharam Raj Uprety, head of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post that the army had rescued six people in Jagat who were at risk from a landslide. Another 18 workers at the damaged hydroelectric project camp managed to reach safety, Uprety said.

National disaster authorities issued warnings to people living along the river in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts.

"Please help ensure that people in at-risk areas are moved to safe locations in time and assist search and rescue operations as needed," the ⁠National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in a social media post.

Officials said army and police rescue personnel had reached the area and were also monitoring the situation from a helicopter.

Source: Reuters



PUKMEDIA