Nepal

As monsoon rains and floods continued, authorities in eastern Nepal have mobilised rescue workers to safely relocate hundreds of people trapped in an island along the Koshi flood plains. 

Officials said efforts are currently on to relocate nearly hundreds of villagers trapped in the island called Sri Lanka - located west of Prakashpur in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve - after water levels in the Koshi river continued to rise, triggering flood warnings in Nepal and neighbouring India.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division has requested communities living along the Koshi flood plains, including villages and towns of Saptari, Sunari and Udaypur, to take precautionary measures and stay on high alert – in light of possibilities of more rainfall in the area.

According to the Chief District Officer of Udaypur, Birendra Kumar Yadav, rescue works started after the Sapta Koshi river breached one of its banks early on Wednesday, leading to inundation of several settlements in Barahachhetra, Sri Lanka Tappu island and Bhardaha area.

Sri Lanka Tappu

Nepal Police and Armed Police Force (APF) personnel have been mobilised for relocation of villagers trapped in inundated areas, officials said, hours after local authorities issued flood warnings. 

Yet fears of the continuing Koshi floods causing more damage in the area remain.

The Chief District Officer of Sunari said he has already requested Indian authorities to open most gates of the Koshi barrage, which was built in 1962 to prevent flooding in the neighbouring Indian states of Bihar. 

The barrage has 56 gates and most are opened whenever there’s a massive flood in the Koshi river.

In 2008, a massive flood in the Koshi – triggered after the eastern embankment suddenly broke on August 18 – claimed the lives of nearly 250 people, mostly in Bihar. Researches later showed it affected a combined population of 2.64 million in Nepal and India. In Nepal alone, it affected 65,000 people and nearly 700 hectares of fertile land, mostly in Sunsari.