Unseasonal rain claims 111 lives, 41 reported missing

The death toll from floods and landslides by triggerred by unseasonal rainfalls in Nepal reached to 111 so far. Similarly 41 people are reportedly missing in the incidents. The rains took place after announcement of end of monsoon had caused human causuality and damaged ready to reap paddy crops worth billions of rupees.

“We are now focusing on rescue and relief operations. The estimate of the losses of properties will be done later,” Hum Kala Pandey, chief of the Disaster and Conflict Management Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs, told to media on Thursday. “We have evacuated over 4,000 people to safe places from different districts.”

Pandey said the unexpected downpours that started on Monday after the monsoon receded early this month had hit Province 1 in eastern Nepal and SudurPaschim and Karnali Provinces in the west hard in particular.

“There was no heavy rainfall on Thursday, therefore we are expecting no further loss,” Pandey added. The unseasonal rain stopped after Wednesday. However, light rains were taking place in some places till Sunday.

Prime Minister SherBahadurDeuba had visited Bajhang and Kailali districts in SudurPaschim Province on Thursday, and he directed local authorities to launch prompt rescue and relief operations and promised a relief package to farmers who lost their paddy.

According to an estimate by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy worth 10 billion Nepali rupees (8.3 million U.S. dollars) has been destroyed in the disasters. Besides that 2,232 houses were inundated due to the floods. Forty nine households, 8 cowsheds, 6 bridges and 3 government offices were damaged. A total of 139 animals died. During the period, 1,177 households were displaced due to disaster.

The year’s rice harvest has been especially been hit badly as those were left out to dry and were ruined by the rains. Elsewhere, paddy fields were submerged in rainwater or entire harvests washed away by flooding, affecting the farmers mainly.  Prime Minister Deuba is scheduled to lead a delegation to the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, UK beginning from October 31, where Nepal plans to utilise the platform to raise a strong voice with developed countries and to lobby for more assistance in combating the effects of climate change.