Miscellaneous
Sunkoshi Mayhem: Rains trigger fears of more disasters
A heavy downpour last night and all day on Thursday has increased the water level here in the landslide-dammed lake, striking new fears into locals of flooding and landslips.Weena Pun
As water rose on the lake and the channels dug out to drain it out got wider on Thursday afternoon, the river gushing out took down a deserted house perched perilously by its side. The house was one of the few on the Araniko Highway that had survived the landslide early this month.
The swelling Sunkoshi also caused small-scale landslides as it flowed out of the lake. Locals downstream fear for their lives, houses and cultivated fields.
Heavy monsoon has forced villagers living on the hills close to the rock failure site to start sleeping at relief camps built on higher grounds.
According to Brig Gen Ashwin Kumar Thapa, the water level, as read on a measuring stick placed at the northern end of the lake, was down 1cm on Wednesday.
By Thursday afternoon, it had shot up to 54cm. The stick does not provide the depth of the lake but indicates a change in the water level.
The Nepal Army is overseeing the draining of the lake and Brig Gen Thapa has been on the field since August 2 when a 500-metre wide landmass swept down villages and blocked the river.
“But the outflow of the river is higher today,” said Thapa on Thursday afternoon. It had rained all morning and afternoon here but stopped after 4pm. Between 4pm and 9pm, the rain had stayed off.
Despite the rise in water level due to continued rains upstream, Thapa does not see the possibility of an immediate outburst.
On Thursday, an army team sparked five small explosions to shatter boulders, making it easier for excavators to clear the rocks and widen the channels. Two excavators, whose parts were airlifted to the dam site and assembled there, are now in operation.
The widest channel on the side of the landslide is approximately 150 metres across. The one in the middle is about 15 metres wide, contained to ease the movement of the rescue team.
At a safe camp in the Armed Police Force barracks at Lamosanghu, the number of households from Thotneri village seeking refuge jumped from eight to 14 overnight.
“People had refused to come to the camp before. They wanted to die, if they had to, in their own houses. But incessant rain stoked fears of another major landslide so they are here now,” said Ganga Devi Adhikari, a 62-year-old farmer from Thotneri.