Kathmandu, August 28
Rasuwa remains cut off from other districts and Kathmandu after Wednesday’s devastating flood, with roads, electricity and telephone services disrupted and local authorities warning of severe shortages of food, shelter and rescue capacity.
The worst-hit areas are Gosainkunda and Uttargaya rural municipalities, where survivors are struggling to access basic supplies.
“Nothing, nothing,” Gosainkunda Rural Municipality chair Kaisang Nurpu Tamang said when asked about the situation. The municipality’s vice-chair Pratima Tamang and ward chairs Kami Chhiring Tamang of Ward 2 (Timure) and Dawa Mingmar Tamang of Ward 5 (Syafrubesi) are among those reported missing.
Uttargaya Rural Municipality chair Madhav Aryal said the disaster had left people with a sense that the state was absent.
“All the connections are down. The electricity connection has been completely cut off, so there is nowhere to charge mobile phones,” Aryal said. “The minimum responsibility that the state should fulfil has not been met.”
He said rescue efforts remained severely limited, with roads cut off and helicopters unable to reach everyone in need.
Around 150 people who fled a hydropower project are stranded across the river and facing food shortages, Aryal said. Authorities have also been unable to reunite 36 students who are currently in Nuwakot with their families because the Trishuli River and damaged roads have cut off access.
The municipality is currently sheltering around 3,500 people, including students, survivors who have lost their homes and families, elderly people, pregnant women, new mothers and people requiring oxygen.
“We have two ambulances and one vehicle. We had an office. Now we have nothing,” Aryal said.
The scale of the deaths and disappearances also remains unclear. Aryal said the municipality was collecting data but estimated that around 750 people may be missing.
Workers at the under-construction Trishuli 3B hydropower project are also among those whose whereabouts are unknown, with some believed to be trapped inside tunnels. The condition of workers at other hydropower projects is also unclear.
Aryal said bodies had been swept downstream and some were lying along roads, creating a growing health risk as they began to decompose in the heat.
“There is no coordination mechanism from the state for managing the bodies,” he said. “It is a state of absence.”
He urged the federal government to immediately coordinate helicopter rescue operations with local representatives, saying authorities on the ground know where people are stranded and where help is most urgently needed.
“We need the state’s help and support. We need it immediately,” he said.
