Landslides, floods damage property worth Rs 11.81 billion in Ilam

ILAM: Landslides and floods following incessant rainfall on October 4 and 5 damaged property worth Rs 11.81 billion in Ilam district.

Ilam's Chief District Officer Sunita Nepal said the floods and landslides damaged roads, bridges, buildings, drinking water schemes, irrigation projects, and the agriculture and livestock sectors in the district.

As per preliminary loss estimates gathered from 11 offices, including the Road Division, Infrastructure Development Office, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Water Resources and Irrigation Division, this amount of property was damaged, CDO Nepal added.

Eleven projects under the Road Division suffered damages totalling Rs 6.96 billion. The Infrastructure Development Office reported losses of Rs 2.34 billion to roads, Rs 850 million to bridges and Rs 40 million to buildings.

The District Administration Office (DAO) said projects under the NEA suffered losses of Rs 24.7 million, while the Water Resources and Irrigation Division recorded damages of more than Rs 328 million.

More than Rs 40 million was lost under the Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Expert Centre.

Under the Dhankuta field unit of the Water Supply and Sewerage Management Department, damages to 29 drinking water projects amounted to Rs 287.5 million, while the Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office in Bhadrapur, Jhapa, reported losses of Rs 280.1 million to 223 projects.

Food and cash crops on 892.32 hectares cultivated by 3,409 farmers were damaged, causing losses of Rs 274.9 million, according to the Agricultural Knowledge Centre. Under the National Tea and Coffee Development Board’s Tea Expansion Programme, 25 tea estates suffered losses of about Rs 47.55 million.

Nepal Telecom incurred losses of Rs 508,000 from damage to 10 optical fibre and cable lines. Under the Irrigation and Water Resource Management Project in Gainde, Jhapa, 31 projects were affected by landslides, resulting in losses of Rs 329 million.

CDO Nepal told RSS that damage details have been presented to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the respective ministries. He said the preliminary damage assessment was gathered from sectoral offices within the district in coordination with the concerned local governments.

The DAO reported that 39 people died, 26 were injured, and one person remains missing. The disasters displaced 711 households; 700 are staying with relatives, and 11 are sheltering in community buildings.

Floods and landslides destroyed 365 houses and partially damaged 940 houses across 10 local levels in Koshi Province.