Monsoon-induced disasters occur every year but authorities ill-prepared to handle them

By Bhawani Bhatta, Mohan Budhaair, and Basanta Pratap Singh

Every year during monsoon, many districts in Sudurpaschim Province get inundated by floods and wrecked by landslides.

Though water-induced disasters claim lives and properties in the province year after year, the authorities are caught ill-prepared to mitigate the damage caused by the disasters.

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“Floods and inundation are a yearly occurrence in these areas,” said Tej Bahadur Malla of Bedkot Municipality in Kanchanpur, one of the worst flood-affected areas in the district. “The authorities, however, are always caught unawares in times of disasters. Come monsoon, and we again fall victim to floods and inundation. The government does nothing all year to mitigate monsoon disasters.”

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The District Disaster Management Committee, however, claimed that all concerned authorities are on high alert.

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Various studies showed that dozens of settlements in the district are at high risk of landslides while settlements on the banks of Seti and other streams are prone to floods. In its report made public in 2017, Geohazards International—an international organisation working towards ending preventable deaths and suffering from natural disasters—stated that Bajhang is at high risk of landslides, and the district will see landslides in 6,630 places in case of an earthquake measuring 7 or above on the Richter scale.