The Mohana river has risen sharply after three days of continuous rain. According to the Dhangadhi office of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the flow measured at 6am on Thursday was 40 centimetres below the danger mark, and rising.
The Kailali District Disaster Management Committee has issued an alert for wards 2, 3 and 6 of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City. Around 180 households living close to the river have been asked to be ready to move at short notice.
“We have four temporary shelters ready, and food grain and tarpaulin in store,” an information officer at the Chief District Officer's office told PailoKhabar. One team each from the Nepal Army and the Armed Police Force is on standby for rescue.
Residents say the embankment work remains unfinished. Harilal Chaudhary, from ward 3, recalled water entering the settlement at the same point last year: “Every year the warning comes and the embankment does not get built. We stay awake all night as soon as the rain starts.”
Floods on the Mohana and Karnali damaged more than 900 hectares of cultivable land in Kailali last year. Provincial figures show only half the budget allocated for embankment repair this year has been spent.
