Apart from loss of lives and crops, recent floods have also hit Nepal’s industrial activity and trade, among others.

Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) saw a decline in the last week because of fall in demand for shares outside Kathmandu Valley due to floods in Tarai. As of yesterday, Nepse fell 23.78 points down to close at 1,629.75 points last week because of the fall in demand for shares.

The sensitive index that measures the performance of Group ‘A’ companies declined by 4.69 points because of a fall in index of commercial banks along with majority of other trading groups.

Insurance faced a big hit out of the nine trading groups, while others also witnessed loss in their indices. Manufacturing sector was the second largest loser.

“Due to the calamities, there was a massive fall in stock demand from investors who had been transacting from the remote work stations being operated from the flood-affected areas,” said Parmeshwor Bhakta Malla, Managing Director of Malla and Malla Stock Broking Company.

According to Malla, the decline in Nepse was due to inundation of large plots of land in Tarai.

900 Nepal-bound Cargos Stranded in India

As the floods damaged railway tracks across different parts of Indian states, around 900 Nepal-bound cargoes were stranded at India’s Kolkata port.

“The Indian railway authority has been repairing the damaged tracks. However, it is less likely that the authority will immediately open the track for cargo containers,” says Animesh Kumar, information officer at the Himalayan Terminals, the operator of Birgunj’s Sirsiya Dry Port.

According to Kumar, it will take few more days to resume transportation services.

Apart from railway tracks, the road transport infrastructure at the Birgunj Customs point, one of the key trading hubs of the country, is also poor. “The damaged roads have impacted revenue collection as well,” said Santosh Yadav, Information Officer at Birgunj Customs Office.

Meanwhile, after suffering more than a week of inundation, the Biratnagar Airport has finally resumed its services partly today. However, it would take more than a month’s time to see services in full phase as many equipment and machinery in the airport were yet to be evaluated, informed Suresh Man Shrestha, Chief at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Biratnagar.

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