The death toll from floods across the country over the past four days has reached 91, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Monday. At least 38 people are missing.

With rains slowing down, the government has stepped up efforts to send relief and medicines to flood-affected areas. Home Minister Janardan Sharma has instructed the government agencies to prepare a report on damage caused within 10 days. 

Local officials have warned of outbreaks of diseases and called for immediate supplies of food and medicines.

In Janakpur, villagers are struggling to find dry and safe places. Almost all the settlements in the sub-metropolis have been inundated. People are left with no option than to drink contaminated water. Food is scarce and there are no medicines, said the victims. The newborns and children are at high risk, said Dr Jamun Prasad Singh of Janakpur Zonal Hospital. “Patients of diarrhoea, jaundice and typhoid have increased in the hospital,” said Dr Singh. 

The Ministry of Health and Population said it has deployed health workers in flood-affected areas to prevent possible outbreaks of diseases.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said it has deployed over 26,000 human resources, including security personnel, for search and rescue operations. Seven choppers of the Nepal Army and six helicopters of private companies along with rubber boats and motor boats have been mobilised in the flood-hit areas, said the ministry.

Eastern districts of Jhapa, Sunsari, Morang, Saptari, Sarlahi, Bara, Rautahat, Dhanusha and Sindhuli and central districts of Makawanpur and Chitwan are worst affected. Dang, Banke, Surkhet and Bardiya in the western and far-western region too have been hit hard by floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains over the past week.

Weathermen have said chances of heavy rains are unlikely for some days

from now. “The pattern of monsoon is now concentrated in the western part of Nepal. Monsoon will be less active across the country from Tuesday,” said Subas Rimal, a meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM).

Of the 31 river stations monitored by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, only one, the Babai at the Bhada bridge, was flowing above warning level. Water levels at the most of the rivers were either falling or steady, according to the DHM. 

PM inspects inundated areas

ITAHARI: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the government will introduce short- and long-term programmes for the people affected by floods. PM Deuba on Monday was in Sunsari, the district worst hit by floods, to take stock of the situation. After an aerial inspection of the flood-affected areas, PM Deuba also spoke with the victims at Gairigaun of Itahari. He said the government would take initiatives to control floods in the Budhikhola and Shera streams of Itahari. About 3,000 families have been displaced after floodwaters from the streams gushed into the settlements. At least eight people have died in Sunsari floods over the past four days.