Gobargadha settlement in Kankalini Municipality-13 of Saptari district has been cut off from other parts of the district after Indian authority released water along a pilot channel that was recently dug in the western side of the Koshi river.

Ninety families in Gobargadha are now surrounded by the river from all sides. The local people claimed that the Indian side released water in the pilot channel on Friday evening without informing them.

According to Bindeshwori Yadav, ward chairperson of Kankalini Municipality-13, they have been trapped in the settlement since Friday evening.

“On Friday, some locals from Gobargadha had gone to the municipality office in Hanumannagar to participate in a training. When they returned in the evening, they had no way to get across the channel. Some men swam across to get to the other side but the women had to head back to Hanumannagar,” said Bindeshwori.

The Indian side has constructed the channel to change the course of the Koshi river that flows from eastern side. Dozens of houses in Gobargadha were inundated during last year’s monsoon after floodwaters from the Koshi river entered the settlement.

The locals claimed that the inundation was caused due to the construction of the channel.

“The Indian side has constructed the pilot channel unilaterally. They did not even inform Nepali side and the local people while releasing water in the channel,” said Mayor Shailesh Kumar Sah.