Ongoing monsoon rains have continued to wreak havoc across the country, claiming lives and causing property damage. Floods and landslides have battered hill districts while swathes of land in the southern plains are under water.

At least six people died while one went missing in separate incidents of monsoon related disasters over the past 24 hours.

In Rukum West, three people died after floods triggered by heavy rains in Tatopani stream swept away a house in ward 12 of Athbiskot Municipality on Monday night. Seven people were injured in the disaster, said police.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Nabaraj Pokharel, eight-year-old Hitamaya Pun, five year-old Dhanisha Pun and four-year-old Manisha Sarki died in the incident.

The injured are being treated at the municipal hospital.

According to Rabi KC, mayor of Athbiskot Municipality, the flooded Tatopani stream destroyed five houses and incurred partial damage to 21 other houses in the area.

“The municipality is committed to providing treatment to the injured and relief to the families of the deceased. We have been working relentlessly to manage shelter for the displaced people,” said KC.

Similarly, 40-year-old Dilli Budhathoki went missing after being swept away by rain-swollen Jhinchaur stream in ward 12 of Athbiskot. The search is on to locate the missing but to no avail, police said on Tuesday evening.

Likewise, in Sankhuwasabha, two members of a family were buried to death when a landslide struck a house in Sisuwakhola area in ward 1 of Silichong Rural Municipality on Tuesday morning. According to the District Police Office in Sankhuwasabha, Moti Maya Rai, aged 55, and her daughter-in-law Samiksha Rai, aged 25, died in the incident that happened at around 5am.

Rabina Rai sustained serious injuries in the incident. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Shrestha, Rai was flown to Kathmandu by a Nepal Army helicopter for treatment. The injured were rescued around nine hours after the incident.

In Kaski, a 28-year-old man drowned in the Harpan stream at Ghantichhina area in ward 23 of Pokhara Metropolitan City on Tuesday. According to the Kalika Battalion of the Armed Police Force in Kaski, Santosh Simkhada, a permanent resident of Dhading who was living in ward 8 of Pokhara, died in the incident. The body was taken to Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences for postmortem.

In Kalikot, multiple landslides caused by heavy rains over the past couple of days destroyed a dozen houses while many other houses are at high risk. According to Poshan Thapa, information at the District Police Office, the landslides destroyed five houses in Naraharinath Rural Municipality, four in Sanni Tribeni Rural Municipality and three in Khadachakra Municipality. He said that 33 houses were at high risk of landslides in Naraharinath Rural Municipality.

Indian barrage inundates over 200 hectares of paddy fields on Nepali side

KAPILVASTU: Around 300 bigha (203 hectares) of paddy fields have been inundated in Bhagawanpur and Bhaisahiya villages in ward 5 of Yashodhara Rural Municipality in Kapilvastu district due to the Mahalisagar barrage built by the Indian side close to the Nepal-India border.

Local farmers are worried as their fields are flooded as they are preparing to transplant paddy. “The seedlings are ready for transplantation. My 12 bigha [8.13 hectares] of paddy field is waist deep in water. What should we do in this situation?” said Mohammad Sabir Shah of Bhagawanpur. He complained that he took a Rs7,000 loan to prepare the seedlings. “How can I raise my 14-member family if I cannot plant paddy?” he lamented.

Bhagawanpur villagers said India has constructed Mahalisagar barrage just around 300 metres across the border, and every monsoon the sluice gates are closed, causing inundation on the Nepali side.

The farmers urged the authorities to resolve the recurring problem, demanding that politicians and top officials raise the issue during their visits to India. “We requested the government authorities repeatedly, but to no avail,” said Santaram Kewat, another local.