Another Spell Of Torrential Rains Predicted

 18 Jul, 2020

By Purushottam P. Khatri

Kathmandu, July 18: Meteorologists have predicted torrential rainfall in several parts of the country for next five days beginning from July 19 to 23, with high chances of occurrences of landslides and floods.

“Monsoon trough is more likely to have its immense impact in Nepal from Sunday evening (July 19) for next five days,” Director General and senior meteorologist Saraju Kumar Baidya of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) said at a press conference organised by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) in Singha Durbar on Friday.

During the period of five days, the nation is likely to receive light to moderate rains in all regions, he said.

“We have already sent several alert group text messages to the regions prone to floods and landslides requesting the locals to stay alert at any time from Sunday evening,” Baidya said.

“Heavy rains will mostly affect State 1, 2, Bagmati, Gandaki and State 5 for five days,” he said.

Karnali and Sudurpaschim States will, however, receive heavy rains only in a few places and have the chances of receiving only light to moderate rains in several parts of the region during the period, Dr Archana Shrestha, senior meteorologist and spokesperson at the DHM, said.

She said the DHM had also predicted extreme heavy rains (more than 200 mm) in one or two places during the period.

Bikash Shrestha Zoowa said all the big and small rivers and tributaries from the east to west will witness tremendous increment in water levels and some rivers may also cross the

danger mark in the next five days from coming Sunday.

He said that mainly three units of the government–the DHM, Department of Mines and Geology and the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation have been working jointly to study and forecast possible risk of flood and landslides.

“Several land and forest areas have already been saturated to its extreme level by the rains during the pre-monsoon and monsoon time, so frequent development of monsoon trough has put the country’s several parts more vulnerable to possible landslides and floods at any time,” Shiva Kumar Baskota, senior divisional geologist at the Department of Mines and Geology, said.

Geologist Baskota said that major human settlement areas in the hilly region of the country had already become an unfit place to live in as the topography of the regions had developed cracks and become weaker after the 2015 earthquakes.

DG Baidya said to avoid possible landslides and floods, the department had so far sent more than 2.5 million text messages to the locals of the concerned areas two or three days before the possible natural hazards.

According to NDRRMA, 155 people were killed in landslides, floods and thunderbolts in the last three months.

So far, 53 people went missing and 249 sustained injuries in different incidents of natural disasters. Of the total deaths, 102 were killed in landslides, 46 had gone missing and 85 were injured. Six people died in the floods, six others went missing and three were injured.

During the period, lightning killed 47 and injured 161.  Rising Nepal