According to Bhojraj Joshi, a local journalist, the flood has put at risk the bridge over the river joining Nepal and India. With the water level touching the bridge, its operation has been temporarily stopped. [break]
The raging flood is continuing to sweep away houses and government buildings. Likewise, several other houses built on the river bank from Bagabagad to Galfai are in peril due to the flood described as the biggest in the river in decades. “It is hard to say altogether how many houses were swept away,” Joshi said. “This is the biggest flood in the river I have seen in 30 years,” Joshi added. Police, army and locals have been working since Sunday night to rescue the stranded people to safety.
Meanwhile, a woman perished in the river Monday morning. Saraswati Raikhola, 30, of Dhap-5 was swept away by the river when she went to the river bank near her house to have a view of the swollen river. A search for the missing woman is underway, the Darchula district police office said.
With rains continually falling in hilly districts, the water flow in the river has suddenly risen in Kanchanpur. The water flow was recorded at 161,278 cusec on Monday at 6 am, up from 122,000 cusec measured Sunday night. Twenty-three people along with their vehicles were trapped in an island in the middle of the river. They had gone there to fetch pebbles and sands. Of them, nine have been rescued. Personnel from Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force are finding it hard to rescue them due to an increasing flow of water in the river.
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