Nepal rains claim 27 lives; Seven injured in multiple disasters since Sep 24

At least 27 people have died and seven were injured in floods, landslides, inundation, strong winds and lightning caused by continuous rainfall across Nepal since September 24. The disasters affected over 1,000 families, damaged homes, disrupted roads and power supplies.

Kathmandu: At least 27 people have been killed and seven injured across Nepal in natural disasters, including floods, landslides, inundation, strong winds and lightning triggered by incessant rainfall across Nepal since September 24 till Monday evening, Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Office said.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said four people were also reported missing during the period, while 1,065 families were affected by 513 monsoon-related incidents, citing the latest government figures.

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The disasters completely damaged 225 houses and partially damaged 137 others. Twenty-seven cattle sheds and 114 livestock were also affected.

The government said it has intensified rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts while mobilising its agencies to repair damaged infrastructure and restore normal life.

Floods and landslides damaged 147 locations along highways and major roads across the country. Of these, 125 locations have already been repaired and reopened, according to government statistics.

Traffic has also been disrupted along the Kaligandaki Corridor in western Nepal due to landslides, road subsidence and damage to bridge approaches in parts of Beni-Jomsom, Palpa, Baglung and Nawalparasi districts. Authorities estimate that it could take more than three days to fully restore the road.

Electricity supply has also been affected by the floods. A total of 1,013.2 megawatts of electricity supply through the national transmission system was disrupted in the Kaligandaki, Marsyangdi and Seti-Madi river corridors.

About a dozen hydropower projects along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river corridors were also badly damaged following the deadly flooding on August 26, which claimed more than 1,400 lives and left around 5,000 people missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power utility, said it plans to import more than 1,100 MW of electricity from India during the upcoming winter season, when domestic generation is expected to decline by around 70 percent as run-of-the-river hydropower projects generate less electricity.

Domestic electricity generation after January is expected to remain around 1,218 MW against projected demand of 2,293 MW, the NEA said.

“That’s why we have planned to import 1,155 MW of electricity from India during the upcoming dry season to manage the power supply,” Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, managing director of the NEA, said on Monday.