Kathmandu, August 1
The Melamchi town in the Sindhupalchok district, some kilometres east of Kathmandu, has witnessed another round of floods on Saturday night, around one-and-a-half months after the devastating floods and landslides in mid-June.
The flood last night washed away nine concrete houses, eight mud-and-stone houses, a suspension bridge and a concrete bridge. Although there were not any human casualties last night, the physical structures that survived the previous flood in June also got destroyed this time.
Locals have expressed concerns that the size of the flood is excessively high in proportion to the amount of rainfall received yesterday.
“If there is such a flood when there is not heavy rainfall,” Gyaljen Serpa, the chairperson of the neighbouring Helambu rural municipality says, “Heavier rainfall means bigger floods with the possibility of high soil erosion.”
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority and the Department of Mine and Geology have mobilised a joint team to study the flood impact.
“The team will go to the site today itself,” informs the authority’s CEO Anil Pokharel.
