Natural disaster claims over 220 lives, causes damages worth more than Rs 17 billion

KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 2 : Continuous rainfall has triggered floods and landslides across the country, causing damages exceeding NPR 17 billion and claiming 224 lives. Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal shared these preliminary details during a press conference organized by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli yesterday in the capital.

According to the latest reports, 224 people have died, 24 are missing, and 158 have been injured. A total of 4,331 people at high risk have been rescued and relocated to safer areas. The floods and landslides have impacted 21 districts, with Kavrepalanchok, Lalitpur, Dhading, Kathmandu, Sindhupalchok, Sindhuli, and Makwanpur being the most severely affected.

As per the preliminary assessments, water supply and road infrastructure incurred physical damages worth Rs 3.55 billion and Rs 2.52 billion, respectively, due to the natural disaster. Similarly, the physical damages of Rs 4 billion and Rs 1 billion were suffered by energy infrastructure and irrigation infrastructure respetively.

Out of the 37 obstructed highways, 9 have been cleared and reopened. In the hydropower sector, 16 operational projects with a combined installed capacity of 667.93 MW and 18 under-construction projects with a combined capacity of 1139.19 MW have been damaged, along with 5 major transmission towers.

Nepal Telecom reported that 312 of its sites have been damaged. The estimated loss in the agriculture and livestock sectors stands at around NPR 6 billion. A total of 30,731 security personnel have been deployed for search and rescue operations, with helicopters also being used for immediate relief efforts.