Local Sapana Panta said that the banks started eroding after water levels at Budhi Gandaki and Soti Khola increased due to continuous rainfall since Thursday.

“A lake has been formed at the Budhi Gandaki River after the flood in Soti Khola deposited rocks, tree trunks and debris,” said Panta, “The water that has been blocked by the debris has reached near human settlements.”

Panta said that people had to leave their houses from midnight when the erosion started. They are taking shelter in a nearby forest.

A Nepal Army officer said that a joint team from the Army and the Nepal Army had assisted the locals shift their belongings from their houses.

Meanwhile, the plan to shift the earthquake-hit settlements in the district has not been executed as the authorities are still searching for relocation sties.

2 dozen villages in danger

BIRATNAGAR: Two dozen villages in Morang are at risk of flood after the rain-swollen rivers in the district have changed their course. Around 7,000 families from   Madhumalla, Bardangi, Hasandaha, Jante, Kerabari, Motipur, Lakhantari, Rajghat, Sijuwa, Mahadeva, Govindapur, Itahara, Babia Birta, Dadarbairia, Hoklabari, Kadmaha, Letang, Bhogteni and Belbari and Koshi Haraicha are in danger. Police said Madhumalla VDC faces the greatest flood risk . All the wards in the VDC have been affected by the floods in  Bakraha and the Nunsari rivers. Around 150 houses in the VDC have been waterlogged. Some 300 households in Hasandaha, 300 in Letang, Bhogteni and Warung, 100 in Jante and Belbari, 300 in Kerabari, and 40 in Sundar Dulari and Koshi Haraicha also face flood danger.