Nepal Flash Floods Sweep Away Dozens Of Houses, Bridges Along Budhi Gandaki River

Flash floods in Nepal’s western Gorkha district swept away dozens of houses, bridges and other infrastructure along the Budhi Gandaki River, a senior official said on Sunday.

Authorities reported no casualties by Sunday morning but continued to assess the damage.

Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, chief district officer at the District Administration Office in Gorkha, said the flooding affected settlements in Chumnubri Rural Municipality, which borders China.

“We are collecting details about the damage caused by the floods,” Mishra said. He added that floodwaters swept away houses in Jagat and Salleri villages, along with the camp of the 341-MW Budhi Hydroelectric Project.

Local media reports said the floods destroyed suspension bridges and a steel bridge and damaged the hydropower project’s construction site.

Initial estimates suggest a landslide between Lokpa and Chumling in Ward No 6 of Chumnubri Rural Municipality may have blocked the Syar Khola, a tributary of the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering the flooding.

Authorities have not confirmed this theory, and the exact cause remains unknown.

Laxmi Gurung, vice-chairperson of Chumnubri Rural Municipality, told the local news portal Onlinekhabar that the incident resembled the devastating floods that struck the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa district on August 26. She said dozens of houses had been swept away but added that officials needed more time to assess the damage.

Nepal’s NDRRMA urged riverside residents to move to safer areas after water levels crossed the danger mark.

The flooding follows disasters in the Rasuwa and Trishuli river areas that killed 1,455 people, with 5,285 still missing, according to the agency.

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