22 Aug 2016 | Voices from the field

Photo Story: Monsoon Wreaks Havoc in Sindhupalchowk

1 min Read

After the 5 July Bhotekoshi flood in Sindhupalchowk, a team from the HYCOS Initiative of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) visited Barahbise and talked with several people living and working along the Arnico Highway.

Some twenty truckloads of stone was dumped to reinforce Bahrabise bridge’s supporting pillar.

Rajesh Thapa, operator at the Sunkoshi Hydropower Station, received flood alert calls from friends and was able to raise all six bridge gates to release the flood waters unimpeded.

Floodwater dumped stones and boulders at the mouth of the gates, leaving one gate with minor damage.

Debris blocks the flow of water into the diversion intake canals. The 10-MW Sunkoshi Hydropower Stations is currently non-operational.

Recent flooding deposited a large amount of sand in an artificial lake created by the 2014 Jure landslide which blocked the Sunkoshi river. This phenomenon is known as ‘sand casting’.

A cloudburst washes away parts of the Jure road making it impassable until a bulldozer was dispatched by the Department of Roads.

A heavier monsoon means a greater flood risk to downstream communities.

One of many residents of Khadichaur who fled floodwaters that fateful night, Mane Majhi. Like many residents, Majhi was separated in the dark from his father who later returned with a t-shirt full of washed-up fish.

Locals from Ramche VDC worry rain and road construction could trigger landslides and rockfalls.

Mandira Shrestha, HYCOS/ICIMOD Programme Coordinator said what happens upstream in China can have severe consequences downstream in Nepal. Dr Shrestha emphasised the need for transboundary cooperation in terms of flood data sharing and setting up of flood early warning systems, not to mention landslide hazard mapping and mitigation.

Continue exploring this topic

2 Feb 2017 Voices from the field

Beekeeping in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: A Success Story

The Asiatic honeybee Apis cerana is indigenous to, among other regions, the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is found ...

13 Oct 2017 Voices from the field

Cross-Border Exchange: Community Forestry Management Systems in Nepal Inspire Community Leaders in Myanmar

“I have been dreaming of implementing community forestry practices in forests around my village for a long time. I just ...

18 Nov 2016 Voices from the field

Towards sustainable livelihoods: KSLCDI facilitates training on heritage tourism and sanitation in TAR

Sichuan University, China, with support from ICIMOD’s Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), and ...

10 Jan 2017 Voices from the field

Securing sustainable incomes for locals through responsible tourism in Pulan County, China

Tourism is booming in Pulan County. The traditional landscape of yak herders and agriculturalists in the southwest corner of the ...

19 Apr 2017 Voices from the field

Water quality improvement options being explored in Himalica pilot sites in Myanmar

Training sessions were conducted in three different locations over the course of three days where 110 villagers, fifty percent of ...

20 Feb 2017 Voices from the field

REDD+ in Dolakha, Nepal: Making a Community Economically Independent

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) has finished testing a mechanism that provides financial incentives to locals ...

18 Dec 2017 Voices from the field

Building social capital through the migrant returnee network

Migration is an important livelihood strategy for people in Nepal. In four Himalica pilot sites in Udayapur (Bagaha, Murkuchi and ...

24 May 2017 Voices from the field

Women in Community Forestry

Dolakha district is home to 422 community forestry user groups (CFUGs) and a majority of its forested area is comprised ...

Photo Story: Monsoon Wreaks Havoc in Sindhupalchowk

Stay current

Continue exploring this topic