Kathmandu: A month after the devastating flash floods hit Nepal’s central and northern districts, at least 1,453 people have died, and 5,285 remain unaccounted for, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).
NDRRMA said the bodies of 1,451 people have been recovered so far, while two others died while undergoing treatment. A total of 13,795 people have been rescued to date, it said Saturday.
Of those rescued, 1,113 people are currently staying in 21 holding centres, including 187 from Nuwakot, 805 from Rasuwa and 121 from Dhading districts.
Flash floods originating near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26 devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.
The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.
The disaster also killed 43 people in Tibet, while more than 500 still remain unaccounted for, according to Chinese media.
In Nepal, security agencies have so far provided medical treatment to around 11,000 people affected by the floods, according to NDRRMA. Seven people injured in the floods are currently undergoing treatment, it said.
Identification of the dead remains a major challenge a month after the disaster. Of the 1,453 bodies recovered so far, 112 have been identified and handed over to their families, according to NDRRMA.
Many of the recovered bodies were badly damaged or fragmented, making visual identification difficult. Nepal Police has therefore been relying on DNA profiling to establish links between recovered remains and people reported missing after the floods.
The police said 1,329 DNA samples have been collected from recovered bodies and remains, and another 2,060 from relatives of missing people.
The authorities have also uploaded details of 1,421 unidentified bodies on the Nepal Police website to help families establish possible identities.
Unidentified remains buried as mortuaries run out of space
With mortuaries unable to accommodate the large number of recovered bodies, authorities have safely buried many unidentified remains after completing the necessary procedures and collecting DNA samples and identifying details.
The samples are being preserved for future comparison so that the remains can be identified and handed over to families if a match is established, according to Nepalese authorities and local media reports.
Nepal Police has also asked relatives of missing people to provide blood samples for DNA profiling. It says samples should preferably be provided by a first-degree relative, such as a parent or child, or by a sibling if a first-degree relative is unavailable.
Recovery efforts have focused on searching for those still unaccounted for, recovering bodies, reopening roads and bridges, restoring essential services and reaching communities that remain difficult to access after the floods.
The floods washed away about 40 kilometres of roads and 41 motorable bridges between Rasuwa and Dhading, according to the Department of Roads. The damage severed key road links between Rasuwa and Nuwakot and left several settlements without regular road access.
Authorities have been opening temporary tracks and installing Bailey bridges to restore connectivity. An Army-installed bridge at Devighat has restored the Galchhi-Bidur road connection, while work is underway to install another Bailey bridge at Betrawati. The government is also preparing another bridge at Syabrubesi.
The main road from Syabrubesi to Rasuwagadhi, however, remains completely damaged. Authorities have begun surveying the section for construction of a new road, while the government is working to restore traffic on the Galchhi-Syabrubesi section by mid-October.
The damaged road network has made delivery of relief supplies to remote communities particularly difficult. In Rasuwa, supplies have accumulated at Dhunche while some villages have depended on helicopters, drones and temporary crossings to receive food and other essentials.
Limited airlift capacity has meant that supplies cannot reach all affected communities at once, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.
Search operations have also continued at damaged hydropower projects, where workers were reported missing after the floods. Rescue teams have recovered bodies from tunnels at the Chilime and Upper Trishuli-1 projects, while searches for others have continued.
The latest spell of heavy rain has added to the difficulties. Three days of continuous rainfall have disrupted major road links, while fresh landslides have blocked or restricted traffic at several locations.
At Krishnabhir in Dhading, where the August floods had already damaged the highway, mudslides have continued to affect the road.
Police said landslides had occurred at seven locations along the Prithvi Highway in Dhading, completely blocking the road at Krishnabhir and Tigraang Khola and restricting traffic to one lane at five other locations. Continued rainfall has also made debris-clearance work more difficult.
The rain has also added to the difficulties faced by people displaced by the August floods. Radio Nepal reported that families staying in temporary shelters in Nuwakot were struggling with leaking tents and protecting relief supplies amid incessant rain.
Despite the disruption, authorities continue to work on restoring road connectivity and reaching communities affected by the disaster.
The government has said restoration of the damaged road network remains a priority, with the infrastructure ministry targeting the reopening of key routes in stages.