Friday 26th April 2024
August 14, 2017
Worsened monsoon created havoc across Nepal displacing thousands, killing around 400 livestock and inundating more than 30,000 houses across various regions of the country.
The situation worsened since Friday and badly affected areas across eastern, central and western regions of the country.
According to Nepali Home Ministry, at least 66 people have died while 35 went missing in landslides and floods in the last three days. Around 34,483 houses were inundated across plains and more than 1,000 houses were destroyed, including livestock.
Sunsari witnessed the highest casualties with 8 deaths and 6 missing cases, followed by 7 in Rautahat, 5 in Morang, 4 each in Jhapa & Sindhuli and 3 each in Banke, Bara, Sarlahi, Dang and Surkhet.
Saptari district alone saw more than 10,000 inundated houses and 500 displaced families. More than two dozen villages of Saptari, including district headquarters Rajbiraj, have completely submerged in floods as the Khando, Koshi Jita and Mahuli rivers flooded and gushed into human settlements.
In line with the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD)’s assessment, which is expecting the rainfall to continue for the next few days, thousands have been displaced under pre-safety measures.
According to Water Resources Analyst Ajay Dixit, spatial extension of the low-pressure system from eastern India to Nepal resulted in this situation.
Around 700 foreign and national tourists were stuck in Sauraha of Chitwan District, as the water from flooded Rapti River entered settlements halting movement and severely affecting rescue works in the city. Some tourist vehicles were also washed away by floods.
Tourists from USA, China, Sri Lanka, India and national tourists were among those stranded.
Over 100 hotels in Chitwan were also hit by the floods. According to Chairman of Regional Hotels Association Suman Ghimire, rescuing stranded tourists was not immediately possible due to continuous rainfall. “We will move them to safer places on elephants but only when the rainfall stops,” said Ghimire.
In response to the disaster, Home Ministry has released Rs 19.7 million as financial assistance to the victims across various districts of the country.
Financial Administration Chief at the Home Ministry Shivanath Poudel informed that the amount was already sent to the affected districts in the first round and would likely be augmented post in-detailed study of affected cases.
The government has decided to provide exgratia of Rs 2 lakh to every family that lost its members in the disaster. According to the Minister of Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet, the government is likely to announce compensation package for flood victims after PM’s spot inspection.
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