At least 30 persons have died in landslides and floods since the start of the monsoon, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Several districts across the country, including Sankhuwasabha, Panchthar, Bhojpur and Taplejung of Koshi Province, witnessed deaths and destruction caused by landslides and floods in the early spell of the monsoon.

Widespread damage to roads, bridges, public properties, and hydel projects (both in operation and under construction) has been reported from those districts.

Twenty-five people are reported missing and 29 were injured in floods and landslides incidents in various districts. Of the deceased, 21 were male and eight female. The gender of one deceased is unknown.

Officials said that 31 others—22 males and nine females—have died from thunder strikes since the start of 2023.

Altogether, 1,072 families have been affected by landslides, floods and thunderbolt-related incidents.

In 2022, 118 people died in floods (19) and landslide-related incidents (99). Additionally, 87 died from thunderbolts in various districts.

Officials at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said that they have imparted disaster response training to around 12,000 personnel from three security agencies—Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police. Apart from this, more than 100,000 people have received volunteer training.

Koshi Province has prepared 18,000 volunteers to respond to disasters.

“Disaster training has been provided to at least 15 students of each secondary school in the Koshi Province,” said Dhruba Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson of the authority. “All districts across the country have a budget to provide relief amounts and an additional Rs9.5 million has been allocated to some highly-affected districts.”

Every year, floods and landslides cause huge losses to life and property, but the country is poorly prepared to deal with disasters.

Climate scientists say incidents of floods, landslides, and inundations could escalate in the coming days.

Erratic weather events—heavy rainfall in a short span of time in some places, lack of rainfall for months and even during mid-monsoon in other places, continued rainfall for several days and other unusual weather events—have become frequent in Nepal, according to Dr Indira Kandel, a senior divisional meteorologist at the Climate Analysis Section under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.