Massive floods and landslides triggered after incessant rainfall over the weekend left nearly two hundred people dead and several others missing in Nepal, reported PTI on Monday. The heavy downpour wreaked havoc in the Himalayan nation, leading to landslides and inundation, said Home Ministry Spokesperson Rishiram Tiwari.
Search and rescue operations are underway to track the people who went missing in different places due to flash floods and landslides. Meanwhile, schools and other educational institutions were shut on Monday due to heavy rainfall. Here are the top ten updates on Nepal floods.
Nepal floods: Top 10 updates
-The rescue mission is still underway, as over a dozen people are still missing due to heavy rainfall-induced flash floods and landslides. In a meeting held on Monday, the Disaster Risk Management Authority decidedthat the rescue operation would continue in full swing for those stranded on the highway and displaced by the floods and landslides.
-Given the extent of devastation in the country due to heavy rainfall, rescue, relief, and re-establishment efforts have been increased in the worst-affected regions, decided the members of an all-party meeting convened by Officiating Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh at the Prime Minister’s Office in Singha Durbar on Sunday.
-Flood and landslide victims are being treated for free at rescue camps. They have also been provided with food and other emergency relief materials, said Spokesperson of the Home Ministry, Rishi Ram Tiwari, adding that 31 people still remain missing.
-The security forces have rescued over 4,500 disaster-affected individuals so far, reported ANI citing Home Ministry official. The rescue operation has been carried out as a collaboration between Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel.
-Rescued victims are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the flood disaster. Hundreds of the people are facing shortage of food with no access to safe drinking water and sanitation in the national capital, Kathmandu, reported ANI citing eyewitnesses.
-Amid massive devastation in different parts of the city, Nepal’s Education Ministry has urged schools and colleges to remain shut for next three days, an official told news agency Reuters on Sunday, September 30.
–Nepal floods have also disrupted vegetable and other edible items supply in the region leading to a massive surge in vegetable prices. Vegetables coming from India and other districts of the country have been temporarily halted due to obstruction in major highways due to landslides, reported ANI.
-Numerous roads, including crucial highways were severely damaged, affecting transportation. Many people were stranded on different parts of roads and crucial highways. Notably, all routes leading to the capital city, Kathmandu, are still blocked, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, reported ANI citing The Kathmandu Post newspaper.
-The disaster also damaged Nepal’s hydropower plants as twenty of them suffered damages due to floods leading to massive power disruptions in power supply in Kathmandu and other cities.
-At least 20 hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 1100 MW suffered damages due to floods and landslides triggered by the incessant rainfall in the past three days, which has led to the disruption in power supply in Kathmandu and other major cities.