1,700 houses inundated in Kanchanpur, infant dies, youth missing

An infant died after a flood gushed into a house in Kanchanpur on Sunday night.

The District Police Office, Kanchanpur identified the deceased as seven-months-old Sonu Dhanuk of Pahariya of Krishnapur municipality-1.

The child fell from the bed on a water-logged floor and died.

 Similarly, Dambar Chaudhary, 23, of Vaivah of Beldandi rural municipality-3 has gone missing in a flood from the local river, Superintendent of Police, Chakraraj Joshi said. Police have intensified search operations for him with the help of the locals.

As of today, 1,700 houses in Kanchanpur have been flooded due to continuous rain over the past two days. The affected areas include Bhimdatta, Bedkot, Dodhara Chandani, and Punarbas municipalities, as well as Beldandi rural municipality. All nine local levels in the district have been impacted by this flooding.

On Sunday night, the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and Nepal Army successfully evacuated 39 people to safety. Security personnel have been actively deployed in the affected areas. As of now, a total of 1,738 individuals have been rescued and relocated to safer areas.

Vehicular movement along the East-West Highway has been hampered as the flood damaged a culvert at Suda Chowk of the Bhansi-Daiji section.

The floods from the Mahakali and Jodbudha rivers have entered the settlement at Dodhara-Chandani municipality-10. Those displaced from their homes due to the disaster have been taking refuge at ward offices, schools, and relatives.

All sluice gates at the Sharada Barrage have been opened due to rising water levels in the Mahakali River. On Sunday night, the river's flow exceeded 400,000(cusecs, but has since decreased to 288,000 cusecs. All 24 sluice gates towards Nepal's territory along the Sharada Barrage in Banbasa have been opened. Vehicles have been prohibited from crossing the Sharada Barrage Bridge for the past three days.---