At least 10 families have been displaced after the debris from a landslide deposited by a tributary dammed Arun River at Syaksila Gola in Sankhuwasabha district on Thursday. 

The victims have demanded the government provide a relief soon. With most of their farmlands under the debris, they fear the area would become a ‘sandy desert’ now. Chhechya Bhote, one of the victims who have been rendered landless by the disaster, said they are living in a threat of flooding. “The dammed lake may burst anytime,” she said.  

The victims pleaded that they have no food to eat. Chief District Officer Shivaraj Joshi said relief will be distributed to the victims as soon as the employees of Bhotkhola Village Council collect details of the destruction. “Ten victimised families have already received preliminary relief materials,” said CDO Joshi. Dr Binit Kumar Jha of District Health Office said his office has also sent necessary medicines to Syaksila to prevent a possible spread of diseases. 

According to the District Administration Office, the flooding Lukche stream, a tributary of Barun River, dumped landslide debris creating three artificial lakes in three places  in the hillside. The three lakes burst their banks suddenly at the same time, sending a massive flood into the Arun river, said CDO Joshi.  

The dammed lake is about 500 metres wide and more than 2km long, however, there is no immediate threat as water has started to flow. Though the river has been flowing normally in the downstream, the District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee requested people living near the riverbanks downstream to be on alert. The local administration has deployed personnel from the Nepal Army and the Nepal Police in the lake area.