Trishuli [Nepal], August 29 (ANI): Amid heavy rain and concerns over rising floodwaters following the flash floods in Nepal, people from Kathmandu are travelling to the flood-hit Trishuli region to check on relatives and villages that have been cut off due to damaged roads.
Sabina Sunar, who travelled from Kathmandu with her one-year-old child, another son and her husband, said she came to the Trishuli region to see the condition of the road leading towards her village.
Her village, located just beyond Trishuli, remains inaccessible due to road damage. "It's sad; that's why I came to see," she told ANI, adding that, "Our village is from here, [came] to see the road."
Her husband, Rajendra Sunar, said the family decided to travel to the area on a holiday to see the situation firsthand after watching updates about the floods on mobile phones and television.
He said their village, located around 26 km away towards Dhading, remains cut off due to the damaged road.
"We came to see how things are here, what's happening. Various things are coming on mobile and TV, so since it's a holiday today, we came to see properly what's going on. That's why we came to see, " he said, adding that "phones aren't working (in the village) because there's no electricity to charge. But everyone is safe."
The visit comes as rescue operations in Nepal's Trishuli region have been temporarily suspended after heavy rain intensified, raising the river level and forcing authorities to halt helicopter operations due to adverse weather conditions.
The worsening weather conditions have also prompted authorities to evacuate people from areas surrounding the rising river as a precautionary measure, officials said.
Nepal Police said the Kathmandu-Mugling road is fully operational, except for a one-kilometre stretch at Baireni Bazar in Dhading, which is under one-way traffic. Roughly 500 metres of road near the Trishuli River remain damaged, with repair work halted due to the weather. According to Nepal Police, the flood death toll has risen to 616.
Prime Minister Balen Shah, in a Facebook post while addressing the nation on Raksha Bandhan, said 15,431 security personnel had been deployed for search and rescue operations in affected areas, including Rasuwa and the Bhote Koshi-Trishuli corridor.
The deployment includes 6,755 personnel from the Nepali Army, 4,473 from Nepal Police and 4,203 from the Armed Police Force Nepal.
According to Shah, a total of 4,451 people have been rescued so far, including 191 workers rescued from trapped hydropower tunnels and 517 people rescued through helicopter shuttle operations.
Sixteen helicopters from the Nepali Army and private sector had conducted 99 shuttle flights across Dhunche, Trishuli, Timure and Syabrubesi before the latest deterioration in weather conditions.
Specialised teams have been focusing on rescuing workers trapped at the Upper Trishuli Hydropower Project, Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Station and other vulnerable tunnel sites.(ANI)
Nepal floods: Kathmandu family travels to flood-hit Trishuli to check on cut-off village
