Heavy rains cause landslides in Nepal, 11 dead and 8 missing

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flash floods that have killed at least 11 people in the past 36 hours in Nepal and blocked major highways and roads, authorities said on Sunday.

Eight people were missing, swept away by floods or buried by landslides, while 12 others were injured and being treated in hospitals, police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said.

“Rescue teams are trying to clear the landslides and open the roads,” Karki told Reuters, adding that heavy equipment was being used to clear the debris.

In southeastern Nepal, the Koshi River, which causes deadly floods in India’s eastern state of Bihar almost every year, was flowing above the danger level, a district official said.

“The flow of Koshi is increasing and we urge residents to remain alert about possible flooding,” Bed Raj Phuyal, a senior official in Sunsari district, where the river flows, told Reuters.

He said that at 0900 hours (0315 hours GMT), the water flow in the Koshi river was 369,000 cusecs per second, more than double the normal flow of 150,000 cusecs.

Cusec is the measurement of water flow and one cusec is equal to one cubic foot per second.

Officials said all 56 sluice gates of the Koshi dam have been opened to drain water, compared to around 10 to 12 during a normal situation.

Officials said the flows of the Narayani, Rapti and Mahakali rivers in the west were also increasing.

In the mountainous region of Kathmandu, several rivers burst their banks, flooding roads and flooding many homes.

Local media showed people walking through waist-deep water or residents using buckets to empty their homes.

At least 50 people across Nepal have died in landslides, floods and lightning strikes since mid-June, when the annual monsoon rains began.

Hundreds of people die every year in landslides and flash floods that are common in the mostly mountainous parts of Nepal during the monsoon season, which typically begins in mid-June and continues until mid-September.

In India’s northeastern state of Assam, floods have killed dozens and displaced thousands of people in recent days.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Additional reporting by Tora Agarwala in Guwahati; Editing by Michael Perry)