KATHMANDU, August 22: Recent tarai floods have caused damages worth Rs 37 billion to the country’s physical infrastructure and agricultural sector, according to statistics. According to the concerned ministries’ preliminary data, flood damages amount to Rs 37.294 billion.
Government officials said that this data is likely to increase after the detailed data have been collected.
According to the data received until Monday, the floods have mostly affected the projects under the Ministry of Irrigation. A preliminary estimation of the ministry shows that several projects under it has been damaged, estimated to be worth Rs 15.50 billion.
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Sagar Kumar Rai, spokesperson of the ministry, said that 135 projects have been damaged in 20 districts of tarai region, which fall under the ministry’s Department of Water Induced Disaster Management.
Similarly, Ministry of Livestock Development has estimated Rs 10.17 billion to be damaged due to the floods. Of the total damage, Rs 3.87 billion amount to the death of livestock and loss of livestock-related material, while Rs 6.30 billion have been lost in livestock produce.
Likewise, statistics show that the losses in the agricultural sector have reached Rs 8.115 billion. According to the preliminary data of the Ministry of Agriculture Development, the floods have mostly affected the paddy fields. The ministry’s data shows losses of Rs 318 million in paddy crops.
Similarly, the ministry has estimated that the floods have destroyed vegetables worth Rs 296 million, fish farms worth Rs 85 million, pulses worth Rs 53 million, and turmeric worth Rs 34 million. The ministry has said that the floods have damaged 78,515 hectares of cultivatable land in the affected areas.
Likewise, the floods have damaged roads and bridges, estimated to be worth Rs 3 billion.
According to Rajendra Raj Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, all the highways and roads in the affected areas have been damaged. The Koshi Highway has been affected the most, according to Sharma.
“The floods have massively damaged bridges over Babai, Dudhauri and Ratu rivers of the East-West Highway,” Sharma said: “These bridges have to be rebuilt completely.”
Despite these damages, there has been no halt to transportation, he added.
Likewise, properties worth Rs 500 million have been damaged in the drinking water projects, as per the preliminary data. According to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, around 20,000 shallow tube-wells have been damaged in the affected districts.
“In Morang, the floods have washed away 200 meters of water supply pipe of a project,” said Shekhar Chandra KC, information officer of Department of Water Supply and Sewage under the ministry.
