The death toll from rain-triggered floodings and landslides across Nepal climbed to 125 on Sunday, police said. Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in parts of the country.
Due to the prevailing situation the border districts of neighbouring Bihar remained vulnerable as the State Government sounded an alert for floods in northern, southern and central parts of the State following heavy discharge of water from Birpur and Valmikinagar barrages on Sunday. The embankment of the BagmatirRiver in Madhkaul village in Sitamarhi district broke on Sunday, which is being repaired, they said.
Due to heavy discharge of water from Birpur barrage, seepage was also reported from the Kosi Eastern embankment near Gopalpur on Saturday night, which was repaired by the engineers of the Water Resources Department (WRD).
A low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal and the more northerly than usual position of the monsoon trough is the reason behind exceptionally intense rain. Scientists say that while climate change is changing the amount and timing of rainfall across Asia, a key reason for the rise in the impact of floods is the built environment, including unplanned construction, especially on floodplains, which leaves insufficient areas for water retention and drainage.
A total of 6.61 lakh cusecs of water was released from Birpur barrage on Kosi river till 5 am, the highest in 56 years. According to the latest bulletin by the State Water Resources department, the last time the maximum water discharged from this barrage was 7.88 lakh cusecs of water in 1968.
Around 13 districts situated along the Ganga, including Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Patna, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger and Bhagalpur, are already experiencing a flood-like situation, and nearly 13.5 lakh people living in low-lying areas have been affected by rising water levels of rivers, following torrential rainfall, officials said.
In Nepal, Kathmandu Valley reported the highest number of deaths. At least 322 houses and 16 bridges were damaged. The security personnel have rescued nearly 3,626 people, the Armed Police Force sources said. The sources added that rescue operations were still underway. The death toll has reached 125, the Armed Police Force said in a statement.
Six football players were also killed in a landslide at a training centre operated by the All Nepal Football Association in Makwanpur. Others have been swept up in the floodwaters. Despite the forecast for rain to continue until Tuesday, there were signs of some easing on Sunday.
