Nepal orders urgent evacuations along Budhi Gandaki River after landslide blocks waterway, raising risk of renewed flooding
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Nepali authorities issued a warning and ordered the urgent evacuation of people living along rivers in the central part of the country today, after a landslide blocked a waterway and caused a mass of water to overflow and flood downstream areas severely. The incident occurred in Chumnubri in Gorkha district, about 100 kilometres west of Kathmandu. It was a dry landslide of earth and rock not caused by rainfall, in which a huge volume of soil and rock fell and blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, a tributary of the Trishuli River, causing water to accumulate before bursting through and flooding downstream communities rapidly. Dhruba Kumar Mishra, the highest-ranking administrative official in Gorkha district, said the current had destroyed more than ten houses, two suspension bridges across the river had been swept away and damaged, and a workers' camp for a hydropower project had been damaged. Dr. Dhruba Bahadur Upreti, executive director of Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said the surge of water carrying mud and rocky sediment was still rising and had swept away and destroyed a highway bridge linking Gorkha district with Dhading district. Meanwhile, Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah said via social media that the Nepali army had safely rescued six people stranded in a landslide-risk area in Jagat. Upreti confirmed that another 18 workers at the affected hydropower project camp had all been evacuated to safety. The NDRRMA issued warnings to people living along rivers in five districts: Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi, urging residents in at-risk areas to evacuate to safe locations promptly and supporting search and rescue operations as needed. Army and police personnel have been deployed to the affected areas, with helicopters sent to patrol and assess the situation from the air closely. There have been no initial reports of deaths or injuries.