Kathmandu, August 28
The sudden flood that struck on Wednesday morning has damaged schools in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, disrupting classes and leaving authorities struggling to assess the full extent of the destruction.
In Rasuwa, where the flood entered Nepal from Tibet, the extent of damage to schools is still unclear because communication with several affected areas has been cut off.
Authorities in Nuwakot are also working to reunite students who were at school when the flood struck with their families.
Damage in Rasuwa still unclear
Preliminary information suggests that six schools in Rasuwa have been affected, with the Gosainkunda Rural Municipality reporting the most damage.
Timure Community School in Timure, Gosainkunda Rural Municipality-2, suffered major damage after floodwaters hit its building. The exact extent of the damage, including whether parts of the building were swept away or collapsed, has not yet been established.
A school in Uttargaya Rural Municipality was also damaged, with students reportedly escaping to safety.
Two boarding schools and two community schools in the Timure area have also been affected. Their names have not yet been confirmed.
Based on preliminary information, the four schools are believed to have possibly been swept away by the flood.
Durga Prasad Silwal, head of the Education Development and Coordination Unit in Rasuwa, reached Nuwakot after communication with the district was cut off.
He said it has been impossible to collect detailed information about the damage because all forms of communication have been disrupted.
“We have been unable to find out about the damage because there is no phone or internet. We cannot contact anyone. There is no electricity, telephone or internet,” Silwal told Onlinekhabar. “I had to come six hours away to Nuwakot before I could get connected.”
Preliminary reports indicate that Timure in Gosainkunda Rural Municipality-2 has suffered the most damage. Communication with the area remains cut off.
Pema Dorje Ghale, a ward member of Gosainkunda-2 who is currently in Kathmandu, said he had been unable to contact people in the flood-hit area.
“We have not been able to get information about the damage. The phone does not connect,” Ghale said.
Nuwakot struggles to reunite students with families
Schools in Nuwakot were already conducting classes when the flood struck.
Because the flood hit while students were at school, many children could not be taken home on Wednesday. With communication between students and their parents disrupted, authorities have struggled to reunite them.
Prabha Bogati, deputy mayor of Bidur Municipality, said the situation had become particularly difficult.
“It got late. The children were at school and the parents were at home. When you imagine the situation of the children and their parents, your heart breaks,” Bogati said. “Relief and rescue efforts are also difficult because the roads are blocked.”
She said authorities were asking schools and local residents around the affected areas to take care of the children.
The flood has damaged six schools in Nuwakot, four of them completely, according to Surya Khati, head of the district’s Education Development and Coordination Unit.
Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Bidur Municipality-5, which has 1,643 students, was completely damaged.
However, no human casualties were reported at the school because students had already been moved to a safe location before the flood caused major damage.
Principal Rajendra Dawadi said around 50 people, including teachers, staff and students, spent the day on higher ground above Trishuli Bazaar.
The flood also completely destroyed the hostel of Chandeshwar Secondary School in Tupche, Bidur-7.
The physical structures of Ramchandra Basic School in Betrawati, Bidur-10, and Uttargaya Boarding School were completely swept away.
Floodwater entered JD Boarding School and Pioneer School in Bidur-6.
Electricity has now been restored in parts of flood-hit Nuwakot that had been without power and telephone communication.
But damaged roads and bridges continue to make it difficult to reunite students with their parents.
“The roads in Bidur and Trishuli areas have been cut off,” Khati told Onlinekhabar. “We are currently using helicopters to take children to safe places and reunite them with their families.”
Schools in Dhading flooded, but no structural damage reported
Four schools in Dhading were flooded, disrupting classes, although no major physical damage has been reported.
Three schools in Galchhi Rural Municipality — Bageshwari Secondary School, Amaleshwar Gurukul School and Success Academy School — were affected.
Jaleshwar Secondary School in Siddhalek Rural Municipality was also flooded.
According to Krishna Kumar Shrestha, head of Dhading’s Education Development and Coordination Unit, the schools can only be cleaned and prepared for classes after the Prithvi Highway is cleared.
“Once the main road is cleared, transportation will be possible. Then the work of cleaning the school premises can begin,” Shrestha told Onlinekhabar.
Eight Dhading teachers missing after travelling to Gosainkunda
Eight teachers from Dhading who travelled to Gosainkunda have been out of contact since Wednesday.
According to Shrestha, the missing include three currently serving teachers and five former teachers.
The three serving teachers are Thakur Prasad Lamsal of Pashupati Secondary School in Nilkantha Municipality, Januka Khanal of Deurali Secondary School and Shivahari Lamsal of Palpa Samari Bhanjyang Secondary School.
Five former teachers from Dhading who travelled to Gosainkunda on pilgrimage are also out of contact.
They are Tulsi Timilsena and Ishwari Prasad Timilsena of Nilkantha Municipality, Hariprasad Silwal and Ghanshyam Bhatt of Siddhalek Rural Municipality, and former teacher Narayan Prasad Lamsal of Jwalamukhi Rural Municipality.
