A flash flood in Nepal’s Budhi Gandaki River wreaked havoc in Gorkha district on Sunday, washing away over 35 houses and bridges and damaging a hydropower project. The floodwaters in the river, which began on Sunday morning, are above the danger level and continue to rise; authorities have stated that there are no human casualties so far.
"There have been reports that some bridges have been washed away. There are no details of human casualties yet. Rescue efforts are underway at various locations," said Shanti Mahat, spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
She said there has been no information about the missing persons so far, and that the municipality is coordinating the matter after receiving information that some people may be hiding in a shed in one place.
However, the Gorkha district administration has urged people by the riverside to stay alert and shift to safe places, Netra Prasad Sharma, Assistant Chief District Officer of Gorkha District Administration Office, told reporters.
Nepal Army spokesperson Rajaram Basnet said that four helicopters have been deployed for search and rescue and 36 people have been rescued so far. Military teams have also been deployed from the ground.
The flood in the Gandaki Province swept away houses in Salleri, Paiyuka and the riverbed at Jagat, as well as a suspension bridge connecting the ward. Officials have reported that the flood has caused some damage to the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project.
What caused the floods?
The cause of the sudden surge remains unclear, but initial estimates are that the flash flood may have occurred when the Budhi Gandaki River was blocked and later burst due to a landslide in the Tumje area of Chumanubri Rural Municipality-6 of Gorkha.
The Flood Forecasting Division under the Hydrology and Water Resources Research Centre, in a statement issued on Sunday, stated that this estimate was made based on satellite images and initial information. The division clarified that a detailed technical analysis is underway to find out the real cause of the incident.
Initial alert about the flood came at around 6 am, and the primary analysis suggests that the flood is unlikely to have been caused by the rain at that time, as there has been only sporadic rainfall at the site in the last 24 hours. At 6:30 am, the water level of the river at the Budhigandaki-Arughat flood monitoring centre had risen to 3.66 meters from 2.28 meters. The alert level at the centre has been set at 4.50 meters.
At 7:50 am, the water level had risen to 5.01 meters, above the danger level of five meters. After that, the water level, which decreased slightly, rose again rapidly, reaching 6.22 meters at 8:30 am and 8.43 meters at 8:40 am, according to the division.
