Bagmati Province
Faparbazaar residents fear Chaurakhola entering their homes
Crossing the swollen river to attend school is full of risks for students in Faparbazaar.Pratap Bista
On Sunday, Dil Bahadur Theeng from Faparbazaar in Bagmati Rural Municipality carried his son on his back and across Chaurakhola to Janata Secondary School.
Due to incessant rains for the past three days, Chaurakhola’s water level has risen significantly, making it dangerous for children to cross the river and make it to school on their own.
“My son would have liked to skip school altogether but his terminal examination started on Sunday so he cannot afford to miss school,” said Theeng.
Home to around 200 households, Faparbazaar lies 45km away from the district headquarters of Hetauda. Over 200 students from the bazaar have to cross Chaurakhola every day to get to school.
For the students and parents, however, it was just another monsoon that brings the same fear every year. Locals say they couldn’t sleep because they were fearful of the river water entering their settlement.
“We couldn’t sleep for two nights on Thursday and Friday because of the incessant rainfall. Only when the rain subsided on Saturday were we able to sleep peacefully,” Bir Bahadur Sah said.
According to Sah, the bazaar area had been flooded twice, in 1993 and 2002. He said locals have repeatedly requested the government to construct a bridge over the river, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, two local units in the district—Bhimphedi Rural Municipality and Hetauda Sub-metropolis-5—have announced that schools will remain closed till Tuesday, as rainwater inundated several areas in the units.
“Rain and ensuing flood in the Khahare river pose a great risk to students, so we’ve announced to close schools for a few days,” said Hidam Lama, chief of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality.
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