Nepal floods: Death toll reaches 59, rescue operation in progress (Representational image)
The monsoon floods and landslides in Nepal an northeastern India has increased the death toll to 65. Till now, around 2.6 million people are affected by the floods.
In Nepal, 65 people died while 30 others are listed as missing. The heavy torrential rains that lashed many cities across Nepal, injured 33 people.
Bed Nidhi Khanal, chief of the emergency Operation Centre, said" As we are collecting reports, the death may rise. The rescue will continue today".
The emergency management official, whose office comes under the Home Ministry, added that seven helicopters had been sent to different hilly districts hit by the landslides, but they are unable to rescue stranded people due to bad weather.
Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said that 33,000 people had been affected by torrential monsoon rains in 28 districts. He also added that more than 2,000 people had been rescued.
As per the Nepal Meteorological Forecasting Division, the monsoon that had been in full swing since Friday eased Sunday and the rainfall has been shifting towards the south.
Khanal also said that the rainfall eased in some areas, like Kathmandu, but some rivers in the eastern part of the country were still above the flood stage.
After an emergency Cabinet meeting on Sunday, officials decided to make the necessary arrangements to expedite rescue and relief operations in the districts hit by flooding and landslides.
The emergency Cabinet meeting's attendees stressed that government efforts would prevent the loss of additional lives and property.
Communication and Information Technology Minister and government spokesman Gokul Prasad Baskota told a press conference that the government would bear all the expenses of the injured.
Near Nepal's border, the northeastern Indian state of Assam has also been hit by torrential rains since Thursday, with at least four people reported dead, while 2 million others in the region have been affected, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
ASDMA said Indian authorities have prepared 327 shelters for the victims and 16,596 people have been taken in so far, adding that 3,181 towns have been affected by the rains.
These weather incidents are common in South Asia at the time of the most intense monsoon rains between July and August, when storms usually leave hundreds dead and millions affected.
According to the 2017 Nepal Disaster Report, due to its rugged topography, ecological conditions, prevalence of a number of flood-prone rivers, rapid and unplanned urbanization, poverty, inequality and uneven development, Nepal is exposed to a variety of natural and man-induced disasters.
More than 80 percent of the population of Nepal is at risk from natural hazards, such as floods, landslides, windstorms, hailstorms, fires, earthquakes and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods.
The report said Nepal was among the 20 most disaster-prone countries in the world because it was located in a seismically active zone with a high probability for powerful earthquakes.
Globally, Nepal ranks 4th and 11th in terms of its relative vulnerability to climate change and earthquakes, respectively.
(With inputs from IANS)
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