A severe natural disaster at the foothills of the Himalayas has caused massive destruction in northern Nepal. At least 55 people have been confirmed dead after a sudden flood and landslide struck Rasuwa district near the Tibet border on Wednesday morning. Nearly 400 people, including 133 Indian nationals, are reported missing in the disaster.
Around 9 a.m., a massive surge of water came down the Bhotekoshi River from the Tibet side, completely submerging the border areas of Timure and Syapru Besi. The flood washed away the Timure market, the customs office and the newly built ‘Friendship Bridge’ at the border. Three Nepal Police posts and 9 Armed Police Force personnel also went missing in the powerful current. Simultaneously, a landslide caused extensive damage in the Jilong Port area on the Tibet border. According to a report by the German research institute GFZ, just seven minutes before the disaster, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake was felt in the border region, and it is suspected that an avalanche triggered by the quake caused the flash flood.
The flood has severely impacted power generation in Nepal. According to the country’s Ministry of Energy, damage to hydropower projects disrupted around 430 MW of power supply, which is more than 12 percent of Nepal’s total production capacity. Although the Army and Police have been deployed for rescue operations, Army helicopters failed to land in remote areas due to the extremely high water levels. Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah convened an emergency cabinet meeting and ordered people living on riverbanks to be shifted to safer places.
The impact of this deluge in Nepal is also likely to be felt downstream in India’s Bihar. As the water of the Bhotekoshi flows through the Trishuli River and enters India as the Gandak and Kosi rivers, a high alert has been issued in 6 districts of Bihar. To take stock of the situation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held telephonic talks with Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and NDRF teams have been deployed for assistance.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah and expressed deep condolences to those who lost their lives in the disaster. The Prime Minister assured all kinds of humanitarian and relief material support from India. Two special aircraft carrying relief materials from India are being arranged to leave for Nepal soon.
