Nepal's flood, landslide kill 118 people in 2 months

Nepal's flood and landslide incidents in the past two months have killed 118 people, wounding 31 others and leading to the disappearance of 56, the Home Ministry said Friday. Out of 75 districts of Nepal, 46 districts (61 percent) have been affected by flood and landslide, while 38 districts (51 percent) have recorded some sort of deaths. Some 12,000 individuals have been affected in the rain- triggered natural disaster, out of which, 10,000 have been entirely displaced. Most number of deaths was recorded in Palpa district in western hills, while the largest number of disappearance was registered in Udaypur district in eastern Terai plains. Some 2,500 houses were damaged either totally or partially, while around 1,000 cattle and other livestock were lost. "We reached to the victims distributing them relief materials and cash. But we could not provide prompt services to them as per the expectation," Jhanka Nath Dhakal, spokesperson at the Ministry 's Natural Disaster Management Centre, told Xinhua. This year's flood and landslide affected Nepal's far-western parts the most, as the swollen Mahakali River caused havoc, displacing hundreds of locals in Darchula, Kanchanpur and Kailali districts. On Aug. 18, Chairman of Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi issued a directive to high level government officials to provide immediate relief to flood and landslide victims within 15 days. "We are working to that end. We are coordinating with other ministries and local administration offices to meet the target in time," said Dhakal.