Despite spending more than Rs1.5 billion to control the Khando river, residents of several settlements along the river in Saptari district continue to live in fear of floods.

The Khando River Management Project was launched in the fiscal year 2015-16 with an objective to mitigate the recurring floods that submerged several settlements every year, causing loss of life and property. However, even after years of investment, the project failed to deliver effective flood control measures.

In several areas, river embankments have crumbled due to erosion, exposing the risk of floods. About 10 meters of flood-damaged embankment remains unrepaired at Deuri Bharuwa in ward 15 of Rajbiraj Municipality, leaving approximately 150 households at high risk of flood during the monsoon season.

“We have repeatedly requested the authorities to repair the embankment whenever the project’s monitoring team visits. But the project has not taken any initiatives to repair the damaged embankment,” said Arahulia Devi Yadav, a local. “The monsoon is almost here, yet the embankment remains incomplete. We fear flooding every time it rains at night,” the 46-year-old woman lamented.

The local residents worry that during heavy rainfall, the western embankment might not hold, diverting the river directly towards settlements. “When floodwaters hit the weak embankment, the absence of proper protection could cause the river to divert into our village,” said Jahari Yadav, aged 68. “Unfortunately, the project authorities have not prioritised construction in this high-risk area as well,” he added.

Recalling a tragic incident eight years ago, 60-year-old Domi Yadav shared how a local resident went missing after being swept away while trying to reinforce the embankment during a flood. “The project's negligence cost a life back then, and now the same carelessness continues,” he lamented. “They spend money in less vulnerable areas while ignoring the places that need immediate attention. It seems like they deliberately put locals at risk just to justify spending funds during floods,” he asserted.

The embankment, initially scheduled for completion three years ago, remains only 80 percent complete. Under the initiative of the then Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Umesh Kumar Yadav, the project aimed to construct 50 kilometres of embankment—25 kilometres on each side of the river—by fiscal year 2021-22. But the project failed to control the river as of now even after spending Rs1.56 billion.

The project has spent Rs58.3 million in the current fiscal year of 2024-25 while Rs132.9 million was spent in the last fiscal year. In the fiscal year of 2022-23 the project spent Rs249 million, Rs264.9 million in 2021-22, Rs160.9 million in 2020-21, Rs 165.9 million in 2019-20, Rs 169.9 million in 2018-19, Rs 215.9 million in 2017-18, Rs 167.3 million in 2016-17 and Rs 22.5 million in the inaugural year of 2015-16.

Lalit Narayan Yadav, information officer at the Khando River Management Project, admitted that flood risk is quite high in the Deuri Bharuwa area. According to him, although the project has recently inspected the embankment at Deuri Bharuwa, it could not be repaired due to funding constraints. “Limited budget and land disputes have delayed construction. Since India has also shown concerns in the river management project, we submitted a detailed project report (DPR) accordingly. The DPR has now been approved. Once the budget is released, we will resume the work,” said Yadav.

However the local people are restless as the monsoon has already gathered pace. The Khando river is the major river in Saptari that breaches its embankments every monsoon, exposing several settlements to floods and inundation.

Every year hundreds of people, if not thousands, are affected by floods in several rivers and streams in Saptari, a district of Madhesh Province. The floods in the Khando, Koshi, Triyuga, Mahuli, Sundari, Balan, Kajara, Mutani, Ghodadah and Jita, among other rivers and streams, enter the settlements and damage crops planted in hundreds of hectares of land in the district.

Not only Saptari but all eight districts of Madhesh are at risk of floods and inundation. However, the preparedness to control water-induced disasters and protect lives and properties is lacking.