The Kosi returns to its old ways
Seasonal floods are a given in Nepal, and some are more destructive than others. Incessant rain from 2 August last week in Eastern Nepal had caused Kosi to swell, inundating several settlements of Udaypur and Sunsari districts in Province 1, and eroding the western embankment in the Dumribote area.
Some 2,500 families in Belaka Municipality of Udaypur and Barahchhetra Municipality in Sunsari had to be relocated following the flood and 20,000 people were displaced.
The good news is that the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, volunteers and locals moved quickly to rescue people who were then taken to shelters in schools and community buildings.
Read also: Kathmandu’s ‘flash floods’ are 4 decades in the making, Tom Robertson
But even as evaluation of the cause of the 2 August flood was on-going, another heavy downpour in the area on 6 August added to the damage. At last 208 more families have been affected in Ward 1 of Belaka Municipality.
“We were on our way back after assessing the damage caused by the first flood when another torrential rainfall hit us. Three rivers on the way to Ramnagar had swollen and we got stuck,” says mayor Ashok Karki. “We were witness to the damage, it is the largest flood to have occurred in the area in the last 10 years.”
The water-logged houses have since dried up and most families have returned home. However, 67 families are still in shelters in local schools.
One of the organisations actively participating in the rescue, relief and assessment of the flooded area is Volunteer Corps Nepal (VCN) which was a first responder and helping in the relocation of the people.
The team in coordination with the municipality office has been assessing the extent of damage caused by the flood as well as providing relief supplies including food, kitchen items, hygiene kits, mats and mosquito nets. Financial support for the relief was provided by the Hong Kong charity Sowers Action.
Even though this year’s flood was not as devastating as the one in 2008 when the Kosi breached its eastern embankment, destroying crops and homes and displacing 70,000 people in Nepal and 3 million in downstream Bihar in India, experts say the Kosi will constantly search for its previous riverbed in its inland delta after flowing down from the mountains.
The Kosi drains the south and north sides of Mt Everest and Makalu and has one of the highest sediment loads of any river in the world. A barrage built in 1956 by India in the border has become a part of the problem because the river is now flowing 3 meters higher than the surrounding land.
Last week’s embankment breach could be a warning for the future as the climate crisis makes the monsoon more erratic with intensifying periods of droughts and floods, and increases the danger of multiple glacial lake outbursts in the catchment areas of eastern Nepal.
Read more: Nepal’s mountains are melting, Alton C Byers