Kathmandu, Aug 28: It hadn’t even rained that heavy in the morning on the 26th of August, Wednesday and the previous day as well. There was no sign at all that a flood of that volume and intensity would occur in the Bhotekoshi river in Rasuwa which flows down as Trishuli in Nuwakot and beyond.
As usual, in the morning, people were busy with their daily routines. Some were probably eating, the school children heading to school, and some had already started getting busy with office work. Some might have been working in the fields, and some were traveling. Without any warning, the Bhotekoshi suddenly surged.
The settlements that looked beautiful with lush green fields nearby just a few days ago had turned into ruins within minutes. Many lives were lost. Hundreds of people are missing, and some are injured. Some have lost their homes, some their fields, and some their businesses. Some people haven’t even received any news about where their family members are.
The massive flood has left behind a trail of death and destruction, and heavy distress to many families living in areas along the river in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts. The damage is comparatively heavy in the former two districts.
The sound of the normally flowing river suddenly turned terrifying. Stones, soil, wood, and debris came crashing along with the swirling water. The people living in the riverine settlements of upper Rasuwa did not even had time to gather themselves or think. Property built with years of hard work was swept away in just a few minutes. The roads and bridges along the riverbank were also carried away by the flood. Other major physical infrastructure, including roads, bridges and buildings and vehicles were washed away by the torrent.
For Kaisang Nurpu Tamang, the chairperson of Gosaikunda Rural Municipality in Rasuwa, the moment of disaster brought by the Bhotekoshi flood still feels like a nightmare. He had never even imagined that his village would be obliterated like this.
“Whatever happened is beyond comprehension. I’m still amazed. I never imagined that such a disaster would strike. Even now, it feels like a dream or a nightmare,” he says in a phone interview with RSS.
Chairman Tamang feels a heavy heart when he sees the chaos and human suffering after the disaster – the entire village devastated by the flood. Local government teams are being deployed for rescue and relief, but wherever you look, there is suffering. In some places, there are ruins; in others, families searching for their loved ones; and in some, people who have lost their homes.
Tamang complains that the local levels do not have enough resources, means, and manpower to face such a huge disaster.
“We are busy rescuing the injured, searching for the missing, and providing relief to the survivors. But it turns out that local levels alone don’t have enough capacity to respond to such a big disaster,” he said, stressing on coordination among all levels of government, security agencies, and supporting organizations in such situations.
He says there is fear that the same disaster might happen again.
The news of Bhotekoshi flash flood suddenly spiraled throughout the country and beyond via media and social networks.
Video clips of the flood started going viral in no time. The visual scenes were shocking. No sooner the people saw the flood coming in, they were seen in rush to save their lives. Some were carrying children while fleeing; some were helping elderly parents to reach safer locations and some were seen being swept away while escaping. Likewise, some were noticed taking shelter on their rooftops, while others ran upward hills to save themselves.
A year ago, there was also a flood in the Lhende River along the Nepal-China border in Rasuwa.
Again this year, an even bigger flood hit the same area, causing massive destruction.
Problem arises when flood sweeps meteorological center
The information about the flash flood had raised their alertness when the flood experts from the Flood Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology came to the office on Wednesday morning.
The Department of Mines and Geology had already reported that a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan region on the China side at 8:37 in the morning.
A few minutes later, the hydrological measurement centre at Bhotekoshi–Syafrubesi was washed away by the flood, so the data stopped coming in.
According to Department’s flood expert Saraswati Bista, the last data received at 8:40 am on Wednesday revealed that water level was maintained at only 1.62 meters in the Bhotekoshi River.
Bista shared hat locals from Trishuli River downstream area to Muglin were urged to move to safer places by adopting high-alertness at 9:15 am on Wednesday.
She mentioned that the preliminary early information was sent to locals residing around rivers in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Chitwan districts through SMS. Similarly, residents from downstream areas Trishuli River to Muglin were again asked to stay alert through Nepal Telecom and Ncell at 9:16 am.
Over 679 thousand mobile SMS sent to downstream residents
More than 679,000 mobile SMS were sent to save the citizens of downstream areas in Bhotekoshi and Trishuli Rivers, shared the Flood Forecasting Division of the Centre.
Centre’s Spokesperson Dr Rajan Bhattarai stated that the citizens of Bhotekoshi and Trishuli River downstream areas were requested to move to safer places by sending 679,295 SMS through Nepal Telecom and Ncell.
Similarly, Mayor of Nilkantha municipality in Dhading, Bhim Prasad Dhungana viewed that many lives were save due to timely early warning about Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood.
“We disseminated early warning everywhere soon after receiving the information about flood in upstream areas. So many people managed to save their lives by moving to safer places,” Dhungana opined.
Flash flood occurred after snow-rock slide in the Nepal-China border area
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority drew the preliminary conclusion from the preliminary assessment conducted based on analysis of satellite images that the flash flood took place in Lhende stream following glacier-rock collapse in China.
Flood expert Binod Parajuli stated that detailed study about the area where the glacial was located as well as overall glaciers is being conducted to further clarify reason behind the devastating incident.
47 glacial lakes identified as potentially dangerous
A study entitled “Inventory of glacial lakes and identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali river basins of Nepal, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India” jointly carried out by the International Centre for Integrated Mountaineering Development Centre (ICIMOD) and UNDP has pointed out that a total of 47 lakes in the study area were identified as potentially dangerous glacial lakes.
Of the 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes, 42 lakes are in the Koshi basin, three are in the Gandaki basin, and two are in the Karnali basin.
Twenty-five potentially dangerous glacial lakes are in the territory of the Tibet, China and 21 lakes in Nepal; one potentially dangerous glacial lake is in India.
These 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes were ranked based on physical parameters and hazard levels ‒ 31 belong to Rank I, 12 lakes to Rank II, and four lakes to Rank III. Water levels had earlier been lowered in four lakes to reduce the risk of GLOFs ― Tsho Rolpa and Imja Tsho in Nepal, and Twi in Tibet, China.
The increased warming at higher altitudes has accentuated rapid glacier melt and reduced glacier mass and area, leading to multiple hazards such as floods, avalanches, and GLOFs and these pose a significant risk to human settlements and infrastructure, the report mentioned.
It said that higher glacier melt will initially increase river flows, but in the long run, a decreased snow/ice mass will reduce the flows.
Disaster could result in mental health issues
Psychiatrists argue that mental health issues could appear due to disasters. The sudden flood, loss of the family members, homelessness and the incidents of near death could cause mental stress.
Senior Psychiatrist Basudev Karki of Patan Mental Health Hospital said that the incidents like Bhotekoshi flash flood could cause mental health issues among the affected ones. “The affected ones have the fear of recurring of such disasters,” he added.
Some could be normal issues while some other people could witness serious health problems, Dr Karki added.
