Nepal flooding, landslides after heavy rains leave dozens dead


Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 151 people, with 56 missing, officials said on Sunday.

The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to four million people and the capital.

Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair.

“We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days,” Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the Education Ministry, told Reuters.

Rescue personnel transport deceased people.
Rescue personnel on Sunday transport the body of a victim who was trapped under a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu. (Sujan Gurung/The Associated Press)

Some parts of the capital reported rainfall of up to 322.2 millimetres, pushing the level of its main Bagmati River up 2.2 metres past the danger mark, experts said.

But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital.

“There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely,” he said.

Residents climb over a rooftop to escape floodwaters, which cover most of two buses.
People climb over a rooftop to escape floodwaters following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on Saturday. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images)

Television images showed police rescuers in knee-high rubber boots using picks and shovels to clear away mud and retrieve 16 bodies of passengers from two buses swept away by a massive landslide at a site on the key route into Kathmandu.

Weather officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighbouring India close to Nepal.

A damaged vehicle lies amid mud and debris in a flood-affected area.
A damaged vehicle amid mud and debris in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on Sunday. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images)

Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

“I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu,” said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the centre.

In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to “urgently” step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems — both of the “grey,” or engineered kind, and “green,” or nature-based type.

People stand in the street near their belongings that were swept away by flooding.
People stand in a flood-affected area of Kathmandu on Sunday following heavy monsoon rains. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images)

The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanization efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention and encroachment on the Bagmati River, it added.

The level in the Koshi River in Nepal’s southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.

The river, which brings deadly floods to India’s eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger.



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