Heavy floods hit hundreds of families in east

Heavy flooding in eastern Nepal is affecting hundreds of families, according to local NGOs.

"We haven't experienced such heavy rainfall for 20 years," Begraj Dugar, 68, from the Gobargada Village Development Committee (VDC) of Saptari District, nearly 350km south of the capital Kathmandu, told IRIN.

Each VDC, the lowest level of local administration in Nepal, is comprised of nine wards and every ward has four to seven villages.

In Saptari District alone, more than 200 villagers in 10-15 VDCs have been affected by flash floods after nearby rivers burst their banks following heavy rainfall over the past week, according to the Kosi Victims Society (KVS), a local NGO.

Saptari is considered one of most flood-prone districts of the eastern Terai (fertile flatlands in south Nepal) where torrential rainfall in 2007 affected over 50,000 households, displaced nearly 8,300 people and destroyed over 3,500 houses, according to KVS.

Local NGOs said about 45 people died due to disease because of the flooding.

Dangers growing

However, this year locals warn the situation could be much worse.

Already the embankments of more than 10 rivers have collapsed, flooding nearby communities.

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

Local residents use boats to get around their communities after heavy flooding washed away many of the roads

Among the most dangerous rivers are the Khado, Mahuli, Jita, Mutani, Khadag, Baan, Pauda and Triyuga where flooding over the past two years resulted in huge financial losses.

"We never know when to expect the flood. We have no choice but to leave our homes," said local resident Drubha Narayan Yadav of the Gobargada VDC.

"More than 50 families have already been displaced from five wards of Gobargada VDC," said local resident Ugrakant Jha, adding that as most of the roads in the area were already destroyed or badly damaged, their only means of transport was a wooden boat across the village. Most of the 100 residents had been displaced.

In nearby Mahottari District, about 44 families were affected in the village of Paya Tole of Jaleshwor Municipality due to surging water levels, with many of the children falling ill because of the cold.

According to the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), more than 12 government offices were flooded, as were shops, businesses and households in the town centre of Rajbiraj.

Key offices such as the Sagarmatha Regional Hospital, district police station, district court, as well as a government shelter for orphans, were reportedly inundated.

Even NRCS's office was damaged by the flooding. "Our relief materials, clothes and carpets are in a very bad state," said Brahmadev Yadav, a senior officer, adding that many of their records could be lost.

Photo: Rudra Khadka/IRIN

With further flooding expected in the coming weeks, many families complain that agencies have not responded to their plight

Relief needed

With further flooding expected in the coming weeks, many families complain that agencies have not responded to their plight.

"It is difficult to estimate how many families were affected, but quite a large number of them from Saptari District have already moved to a safer place before more floods hit them. Most of them are now living with their relatives in India and nearby Sunsari District," said government official Tahir Husain, VDC secretary of Gobargara.

Relief efforts are provided by international aid agencies through the government-led District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC).

But according to local residents, all senior government officials, such as the chief district officer and local development officer, have been out of the district over the past 10 days.

"The relief has not been distributed due to a lack of key government officials," Jogendra Bhagat, NRCS's district chairman, said.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government had dispatched nearly 20,000 sandbags to protect the river embankments but they were hardly enough to even defend one small village, complained local disaster-relief workers.

"There is a need for more preparedness plans to reduce the financial loss and hardship of the displaced due to the floods," added KVS's president Dev Narayan Yadav.

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