Nepal Floods: 60 dead, 40 injured, rescue operations underway

The death count in the rain-triggered incidents in Nepal touched 60 on Monday. Nearly 38 people have been reported injured and 30 others are still missing, according to reports. 1146 people have been rescued till now from 22 flood-hit districts. Deaths were reported from various districts, including Lalitpur, Kavre, Kotang, Bhojpur and Makanpur.

Heavy monsoon rains for the past few days have left many settlements at high risk of floods and landslides in several places in Nepal, including the capital city Kathmandu. Transportation has also been disrupted in all major highways.

Rain-fed rivers have also started to erode embankments putting nearby settlements at high risk of flooding. "The rain-triggered disasters have caused havoc across the country," the Nepal Police said in one of its news bulletins.

The Flood Forecasting Section (FFS) said that monsoon is active and the rainfall will continue for two to three days in most places across the country, The Himalayan Times reported.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) warned the public to remain on high alert and said that air and road traffic could be affected due to low visibility.

Heavy rainfall has led the water level in the rivers to rise.

FFS said that water level in Bagmati, Kamala, Saptakoshi and its tributary the Sunkoshi has crossed the danger mark.

People living in these regions should remain alert, Binod Parajuli, hydrologist at FFS, was quoted as saying in the news report.

Meanwhile, weather experts have attributed the heavy rainfall in such short duration to climate change.

The Kathmadu Post reported that over the last three days, the country has witnessed heavy rainfall in an indication of the changing rainfall pattern. The country is receiving more rainfall in a short duration of time—an abnormal phenomenon that is slowly becoming a new normal.

There has been a change in precipitation in recent years. The intensity of rainfall has gone up, Madhukar Upadhya, a watershed practitioner and climate change expert, told The Kathmandu Post.

We are experiencing a high intensity of rainfall in short durations, he said.