60 families vulnerable to flood

NEPALGUNJ, Aug 4: Over five dozen households in Holiya village of Banke district are prone to floods as Rapti River begins changing its course.



Around 300 people belonging to the 61 families--42 households in Tepari and 19 in Ghodiyanpurwa settlements of Holiya village--are at the risk of being displaced by floods, said police. [break]



"The swollen river is fast eroding land," Rangabir Mahatara, in-charge of a local police post, said, adding, "Villagers fear that the river will sweep away all their lands."

Some villagers have carried off their belongings to their neighbors who live in relatively safer places away from the river. Babu Yadav, 61, a resident of Holiya-5, has also shifted most of his belongings to one of his neighbors.



"I have kept only the most essential materials with me," Yadav said. "I spend all day fearing sudden rains and floods." He flayed the government authorities for not taking damage control measures.



The change in the river´s course was caused by the construction of an embankment in Piprahawa of Holiya village. Last year, local authorities constructed a 2400-metre long embankment of bamboos under the government´s ´People´s Embankment Program´, forcing the river into changing its course toward Tepari.



Although authorities had decided to build another embankment in Tepari to stop the river from changing its course, the construction work is yet to gain momentum. "Our fear is mainly due to the delay in building the embankment in Tepari," Bijay Yadav, a local resident, said. "The embankment construction has not finished even after the monsoon has reached its full-blown stage."



Narayan Subedi, an engineer at the field office of People´s Embankment Program, puts the entire blame on the contractor responsible for the construction of embankments. "Had the contractor completed the work on time, villagers would not have to fear floods," he said.



Mohan Acharya, who got the Rs 5.4 million contract for building bamboo-embankments along the river, said, "We could not finish our job because of the shortage of bamboos. We have also been facing several hurdles in transporting bamboos to the site."



Meanwhile, Republica correspondent Bikram Giri reported that Doda khola has eroded 70 bighas of crop-fields in Shankarpur-7 of Kanchanpur district in the last three years.

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