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Chure foothills at high risk of flood-induced disasters

The settlements on the foothills of Chure Hills in Kanchanpur district have been grappling with flood-induced disasters for years. Chure foothills at high risk of flood-induced disasters

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Bhawani Bhatta

Published at : April 4, 2018

Updated at : April 4, 2018 08:44

Kanchanpur

The settlements on the foothills of Chure Hills in Kanchanpur district have been grappling with flood-induced disasters for years. Scores of families residing between Bhramadev and Krishnapur areas have lost their homes and properties due to the inevitable floods that sweep through the region during monsoon season.

Every year between the months of June and August, local streams, including Kamikante, Gahatadi, Khanya, Rautela, Chaudhar, Sunwarea and Machheli,

spill over their banks and inundate vast swathes of arable land and nearby

settlements.

Floodings have led to severe destruction of homes and properties in places like Baise Bichawa, Bhimdatta, Dekhat Bhuli and Shankarpur over the years. Narendra Bista, a resident of Bhimdatta Municipality-3, said his family has lost a large area of land owing to floods in the region.

“Our 4 bigha property has reduced to 10 katthas after years of floods in the Khanya stream. Floods have swallowed homes and farms of many families in this region,” he said.

Hira Kunwar of Barkunda settlement in Bhimdatta Municipality-1 shared a

similar ordeal, that many families have lost their homes and properties due to floods.

“Four years ago, a flood in Rautela stream eroded the farms of 22 families in Barkunda. The danger of flood has not yet ended here. Many settlements and farmlands are still at high risk,” he said.

The brunt of floods has also been felt by the Chure forests. Forest cover of nearly 500 hectares has been lost to floods and flood-induced erosions along the Bhramadev-Bedkot belt, said Rabindra Kunwar, the chairman of Chure Conservation Network in Barkunda.

“Bhramadev and Bedkot areas have continued to witness the devastation caused by floods and erosions because the local rivers and streams have been eating away at the base of the Chure Hills,” he said.

The only hope for the flood-affected people at the moment is the three embankments that are being constructed in Bhramadev area by the Mahakali Irrigation Project (Third Phase). The under-construction embankments along the Rautela, Khanya and Kamikante streams are expected to stave off flood impacts in the region.