Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Nepal’s flash flood death toll rose to 675 on Saturday, with bodies still being recovered as search and rescue operations continued amid renewed rain, rising water levels and fears of further flooding in the Bhotekoshi River basin. Nearly 2,400 people remained missing, including at least 320 foreign nationals, while more than 4,400 people have been rescued or evacuated so far.
The disaster, believed to have been triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock in the Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border, sent a huge torrent of water, mud and debris downstream through central Nepal on Wednesday. The Bhotekoshi River became the main channel for the floodwaters, devastating towns and villages in several districts, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges, and damaging hydropower projects.
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According to a Nepal Police statement, the 675 bodies recovered so far were found in eight districts. Police said 246 bodies were recovered from Chitawan, 165 from Nawalparasi East, 63 from Nawalparasi West, 57 from Gorkha, 45 from Dhading, 51 from Nuwakot, 35 from Tanahu and 13 from Rasuwa.
Officials said more than 15,000 security personnel have been mobilised for search and rescue work, while helicopters have been making repeated sorties to evacuate stranded people and deliver relief supplies. Rescue teams are racing to reach remote settlements cut off after roads and bridges were destroyed. Some of the worst-hit places can now be reached only by helicopter, with difficult terrain and damaged infrastructure making operations harder.
The rescued people included at least 261 foreign tourists who had gone “out of contact”. Officials said they included 167 Indians, 40 Chinese, eight Ukrainians, four each from Germany and Malta, three from the US, and others from Turkiye, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Oman, Belgium and Bulgaria.
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said search and rescue teams, medical personnel and emergency responders were working together in the affected areas, while authorities were coordinating with families to identify missing people. Diplomats were also helping communication with families of missing foreign nationals. He said the government was monitoring the possibility of further flooding and that the affected region remained on “high alert”.
Fresh rain has added to the difficulties. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority had warned on Friday about the possibility of more flooding after water levels rose at the disaster site, and the meteorology department on Saturday warned of fresh rainfall and thunderstorms in flood-hit areas. A new lake formed upstream after the initial flooding, raising fears of another surge downstream. Chinese monitoring later indicated that the lake had shrunk from its peak level, but Nepali authorities continued to closely track water levels.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah said on Saturday that the government stood with flood-affected citizens and that saving lives was its priority. “It is the first priority of the state to save the life of each and every citizen through the mobilisation of all the state mechanism,” he said.
On the Chinese side of the border, seven people were reported dead and more than 550 missing, according to Chinese authorities. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke to Khanal on Saturday to convey Beijing’s decision to provide an assistance package to Nepal to deal with Wednesday’s flash floods at the Tibet-Nepal border.
An 11-member Indian team sent to Nepal carried out on-site reconnaissance of hydropower tunnels in the flood-affected regions on Saturday and later reached Trishuli in Nuwakot district to help efforts to rescue workers trapped in a hydropower project tunnel. Nepali security forces have rescued 191 workers and residents from hydropower projects across the affected corridor, but many more remain unaccounted for at several sites. Since Wednesday, India has sent 57.6 tonnes of relief material to flood-hit areas of Nepal.
Kathmandu also praised India’s help, with Nepal’s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle describing the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “exceptionally generous” and saying New Delhi had indicated it would provide generous assistance for reconstruction. Wagle said the immediate priority was rescuing people stranded or trapped by the floods, followed by recovery and reconstruction as Nepal begins assessing the vast damage to infrastructure and communities.
The Mugling-Kathmandu highway, a key road link between the capital and other parts of the country, resumed operations on Saturday after being shut since Wednesday because of flooding and landslide risks. Several other roads and highways in central Nepal, however, remain blocked or difficult to access.
The scale of the disaster has also been seen in accounts from survivors and in the damage left behind. In Timure, near the Nepal-Tibet border, survivors described scrambling up hillsides as a wall of water, mud and stones tore through the settlement, with houses disappearing within seconds. In some places, buildings were buried under several feet of mud, vehicles lay half-submerged and electricity poles were uprooted. Families have been moving through mud and wreckage to look for belongings, while relatives at hospitals and relief centres continue to search survivor lists and photographs of the dead for news of loved ones.
With the death toll still rising, thousands missing and rescue teams working against rain, damaged roads and the risk of more flooding, Nepal remains in the middle of a widening disaster as authorities continue search, relief and recovery efforts across the affected districts.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
