Trishuli (Nuwakot), September 2
Schools affected by flooding in the Trishuli River following the Bhotekoshi flash flood have been closed indefinitely in Nuwakot district.
All schools in the worst-hit areas of Bidur Municipality and Kispang Rural Municipality have remained closed, while it remains uncertain when teaching and learning activities will resume in other flood-affected areas.
Bidur Mayor Rajan Shrestha said there are no immediate plans to reopen schools as students, teachers and parents are missing, while school buildings, roads and bridges have been damaged by the floods.
He said schools would be reopened only after daily life returns to some extent of normalcy and people can safely cross the rivers.
Education Section Chief of the municipality Nabraj Sapkota said the scale of the damage caused by the floods was far greater than anticipated, despite prior information about the approaching disaster.
However, some schools managed to avert major incidents by taking precautionary measures, he said.
“The current situation is not normal, and daily life has been disrupted. After some time, we will prepare a plan to conduct teaching and learning activities through alternative means,” he said.
Of the 83 schools in Bidur Municipality, around a dozen have been directly affected by the floods. According to the municipality’s Education Section, four school buildings have been completely damaged.
Preliminary data compiled by the Education Development and Coordination Unit in Nuwakot show that schools cannot resume classes at their previous locations because the floods have destroyed the structures of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, Ramchandra Basic School, Chetana Basic School and Trishuli Community Boarding School.
Similarly, three blocks and the hostel building of Uttargaya English Boarding School have been completely damaged.
Teaching and learning activities have also been disrupted after the hostel of Chandeshwori Secondary School, where visually impaired students were staying, was damaged. The premises of Shahid Jagat Prakash Jung Shah Sanskrit Secondary School and Pioneer English Boarding School have also been affected.
A school bus belonging to Ramchandra Basic School and two buses belonging to Uttargaya English Boarding School were washed away by the floods.
Although school buildings in Kispang Rural Municipality were not damaged by the floods, two school buildings have been converted into holding centres. One school building in Belkotgadhi has also been used as a holding centre.
Shila Devi Secondary School in Belkotgadhi-7 and Mahadev Secondary School in Belkotgadhi-5 have also been affected by the floods.
