Devastating Flood Leaves Nuwakot in Crisis
Families continued to gather in Bidur on Saturday in search of relatives missing after the devastating flood that swept through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors.
Police said the names of around 1,800 missing people had been registered between Wednesday and Saturday. At the Nepali Army’s Trishuli Training Center, relatives waited anxiously as helicopters brought rescued people to safety. Among those searching was Sunita Tamang, whose 33 relatives, including her brother, have been missing since the flood.
A Kailash Mansarovar trekking group of 85 people—67 foreigners and 18 Nepalis— has also remained unaccounted for in the Rasuwagadhi area. Trek guide Lakpa Sherpa said families of the missing continue to call him, while private rescue teams have been unable to participate in search operations.
The disaster, triggered by the collapse of an ice cliff near the Lhende River on August 26, caused extensive destruction in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Homes, farmland, roads, bridges, shops, water pipelines and other infrastructure were swept away, severely disrupting transportation and the supply of essential goods.
Drinking water has emerged as one of Bidur’s biggest challenges, with most pipelines destroyed or buried. Although electricity has been restored to about 90 percent of the area, low voltage is preventing residents from operating water pumps and other appliances.
Search teams began focusing on recovering bodies from Saturday. Authorities and health experts have also warned of increasing risks from decomposing human and animal remains. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Sher Bahadur Pun cautioned that diseases including cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, hepatitis, leptospirosis, dengue and malaria could spread unless urgent sanitation and health measures are adopted.
Bodies and animal carcasses swept downstream have reportedly been found as far as Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, Nawalparasi and India, highlighting the scale of the disaster and the growing public-health threat.
