Over 800 evacuated from Susta

NAWALAPARSI: Local residents of Susta have been evacuated to the eastern bank of the Narayani River after floodwaters entered the settlement following incessant rainfall.

Floodwaters entered Susta Rural Municipality-5 in Nawalparasi West on Friday.

According to Chief District Officer Dipak Raj Nepal, residents from Tharu and Ward Tol settlements have been evacuated and kept at a holding center.

“More than 800 residents were brought to BP Secondary School in Balinagar on the eastern bank of the river,” Nepal said. “There are 219 households with more than 1,450 residents in Susta. Some have already moved to their relatives’ homes, while the remaining people are being brought across the river with the help of the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force.”

Nepal added that rising water levels around the suspension bridge over the Narayani River, the main crossing to the eastern bank, have affected the evacuation process.

“The suspension bridge is used to cross the Narayani to reach the eastern bank. As the water level rose, it became difficult to move people across and take them to the school,” Nepal said.

The Nawalparasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Nawalparasi chapter of the Nepal Red Cross Society have also reached the area with relief materials, he said.

Meanwhile, 479,100 cubic feet per second of water was measured at the Gandak Barrage, according to Sobhit Haluwai of the Gandak Project Office in Bhaisalotan, Balmikinagar.

(RSS)