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At least 10 people have been unaccounted for since Sunday morning following flooding along the Budhi Gandaki River basin in Gorkha District, Nepal, officials confirmed. The flood also swept away six bridges, including two motorable bridges and four suspension bridges.
Assistant Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma told ANI over the phone that the flood destroyed the motorable bridges at Arughat, Tripurasundari and Soti-Manbu. A Bailey bridge connecting wards 1 and 3 of Dharche Rural Municipality in Gorkha was also swept away by the floodwaters.
Other bridges damaged or destroyed in the disaster include footbridges connecting Machhikhola with Karauja, Thadobharyang with Jagat, and Ghattekhola with Philim.
“In addition, 10 people have been reported missing since the flood hit the northern part of the district earlier this morning. An alert is in place as the river’s water level has continued to rise and fall. We are constantly monitoring the flow,” Sharma told ANI.
The flood swept away nearly 35 houses in Painyu and Bagar in Ward 3 of Chumnubri Rural Municipality. It also damaged settlements in Jagat, Salleri, Dovan and Ghattekhola.
Following the incident, Prime Minister (PM) Balen Shah said a Nepali Army contingent had been deployed by air and land to conduct search and rescue operations.
He added that helicopters had been mobilised to support rescue, relief and evacuation efforts in the Budhi Gandaki flood-affected region. A Joint Rapid Response Team from Kathmandu has also been airlifted to the area to assist with the response.
An hour later, the Nepal Army announced that six people had been evacuated to safer areas from the flood-affected region, which lies about 184 kilometres from the capital, Kathmandu.
Taking to social media, Home Minister Sudan Gurung warned of another severe flood in Nepal following a surge in the Budhi Gandaki River in Gorkha on Sunday morning.
In a social media post accompanying a video of the flooding, Gurung said security personnel, including helicopter teams, had been mobilised to the affected areas for rescue, relief and evacuation operations.
“Nepal has faced another severe flood, and I have been seriously concerned by reports that the bridge connecting Nyakchet and Film Bazaar in Ward No. 3 of Chumanubri Rural Municipality, Gorkha, has been washed away. The river’s flow is continuously increasing, and muddy floodwaters have entered some houses in the Ghattekhola area,” he wrote.
He added that helicopters had been deployed immediately after the incident, while the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and local administration had been mobilised to carry out rescue and relief operations and move people to safety.
The Home Minister urged residents of Sirdibas, Jagat, Salleri, Khorlabesi, Machhakhola, Soti, Arkhet and Arughat, particularly those living along the banks of the Budhi Gandaki River, to relocate to safer areas without delay and remain on high alert.
“I sincerely request residents of these areas, especially those living along the Budhi Gandaki River, to move to safer places immediately and remain highly alert. Please remain calm and stay safe,” Gurung wrote.
He also urged people requiring emergency assistance to contact the Ministry of Home Affairs on 1234.
Nepali authorities urged villagers on Sunday to move to safer places after a flood in a river in the central part of the country swept away several houses and infrastructure, but there were no reports of any casualties.
A dry landslide in Chumnubri village in Gorkha district, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Kathmandu, blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, leading to downstream flooding, authorities said.
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The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli River, downstream from another tributary where a glacier collapse caused a catastrophic flood in August that killed 1,457 people, with thousands still missing.
"We have asked villagers living along the river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe," said Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the Gorkha district's most senior bureaucrat.
Mishra said about a dozen houses and two suspension bridges had been swept away, and a hydroelectric project camp was damaged by the flood.
The flooded river carrying muddy sludge is rising and has washed away a highway bridge connecting Gorkha with the neighbouring Dhading district, said Dharam Raj Uprety, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority
The army rescued six people from Jagat who were facing the risk of a landslide, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post. Another 18 workers at the hydroelectric project that had its camp was damaged escaped to safety, Uprety said.
National disaster authorities alerted people living along the river in the Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts about the flood.
"Please help ensure that people in at-risk areas are moved to safe locations in time and assist search and rescue operations as needed," the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in a social media post.
Officials said army and police rescue personnel had reached the area and were also monitoring the situation from a helicopter.