Kathmandu, Oct 11: Residents fled Arughat Bazaar on Sunday morning as surging Budhigandaki floodwaters swept away two road bridges and threatened the roughly 400-year-old settlement in Gorkha.
Arughat Rural Municipality chair Raju Gurung said that bridges in Arughat and Soti had been washed away, and other structures had also suffered damage. Rising water put homes at risk of inundation, forcing residents to seek shelter on higher ground.
“Arughat has now been evacuated. Nobody in the market area remains at home. Everyone has moved to safety,” Gurung said. “The very existence of Arughat Bazaar is under serious threat.”
Floodwaters rose above the Arughat road bridge and affected nearby settlements, he said. Local authorities began warning residents through police and the media after receiving information about the flood at around 4:45 a.m.
Gurung said five people staying in livestock sheds in the municipality’s Sundari area were reportedly out of contact. He stressed that the information had yet to be officially confirmed.
The emergency followed reports that a landslide had blocked the river upstream in Chumnubri Rural Municipality. Water later began flowing past the blockage, sending mud and debris downstream. Police said the remote location had prevented them from reaching the site to establish how much water remained trapped.
The Flood Forecasting Division announced at 8 a.m. that the Budhigandaki had crossed the danger level at Arughat and was still rising. It urged people along the river between Arughat and its confluence with the Trishuli to avoid riverbanks and remain on safe, higher ground.
Army teams reached affected areas by air and land to assess conditions and conduct search and rescue operations. The army said six people had been airlifted from Jagat village because of the risk of landslides.
Authorities were still assessing the damage and gathering information from upstream settlements. The Budhigandaki’s connection with the Trishuli has also prompted warnings for communities further downstream.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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