Scores of houses on the Bagmati banks in Shanti-nagar and Gairigaun were flooded as the swollen river was blocked due to a causeway at Tinkune on Monday following incessant overnight rain.

The Road Department had constructed the causeway by laying drainage pipes on either side of the bridge along the six-lane highway. They were blocked by the flood.

Water lever receded after 2pm on Monday when the pipes were pulled out following intense pressure from the local residents.

This is not the first case of flooding in the area. A flood had entered the settlement a month ago but the damage was not as severe.

“The state does not care about squatters like us,” said Dik Bahadur Shrestha, who has lived on the riverbank for 12 years. He added that his four-member family could not sleep throughout the night.

He said no help arrived until mid-day, leaving the inhabitants of the settlement clueless what to do. The occupants were busy throughout the day throwing water out of their houses. They lost their belongings such as food grains while the furniture, bedding and kitchenware were damaged.

“Our room is waterlogged and all the bedclothes are wet. We have nowhere to sleep tonight. The little foodstuff in store was swept away,” said a worried Bidhu Kumari Tamang, 47, who was busy removing water from her house.

The Tamangs have been living there for nearly two decades now. “We survived the Great Earthquake but we are insecure in a flood,” said Tamang. The squatters said the settlement had faced a major flood in 2001.