Nepal flood: Death toll reaches 15, 14,000 families affected

KATHMANDU: The death toll in flood-hit Terai region has risen to 15 with the reports pouring in about four more deaths due to the flood caused by incessant rains.

One person each died in Mahottari, Dhanusha, Ramechhap and Morang districts in east and central Terai, officials said.

The flood had badly hit over 14,000 families across the Himalayan nation. About 8,000 families were displaced in eastern hilly region while 2,500 in Bardia district in western Nepal and 1,500 in Banke district in the west and 2,000 were displaced in Parsa in southern Nepal, the Kantipur Daily said.
 
A large part of Nepalgunj in western Nepal's Banke district remains inundated in five to six feet of water. All the schools, government offices, industries and power houses have been closed and the movement of traffic was halted due to the rising water level, officials said.

Also flights from the mid-west regional headquarters in Nepalgunj to western region and Kathmandu were cancelled for two weeks.
    
In Janakpur, a southern Nepal town, Kamala river has submerged over 100 houses in more than three dozen villages, while swollen Koshi river had waterlogged over 1,000 house in Sunsari.
    
People are facing acute shortage of safe drinking water and food in the flood hit areas.

Though the government has announced Rs 15,000 per person for the family members of the dead and Rs 10,000 for each household damaged by the flood, the relief works and rescue operations were still not sufficient, complain locals.
    
Meanwhile, some Nepalese lawmakers held constructions on Indian side responsible for the floods and asked their government to take up the matter with the Indian government as soon as possible, The Kathmandu Post reported.