Simaltal Landslide: Coordination with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to search for bodies

After the body of the missing person was found in the Narayani River near the Indian border area, a coordinated search was conducted in the districts towards India in the estimation that it may have been washed away and reached India. According to Chief District Officer of Chitwan Indradev Yadav, coordination has been done with Maharajganj of Uttar Pradesh and DM of West Champaran District of Bihar. Yadav said that the Chief District Officer of Paschim Champaran and Navalparasi (Bardghat-Susta Paschim) is coordinating with the DM of Maharajganj.

Yadav informed that both DMs have been asked to inform if a body is found in the river. According to him, there is no information that the body has been found so far. He said that after the body reaches Gandak barrage, they can go across.

Although the Chief District Officer has the authority to coordinate with the bordering districts, he said that for the time being, he is communicating orally because correspondence has to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Trishuli river flows towards India through Triveni and merges with Narayani. As the river is flooding, it is estimated that the body can reach India.

On Friday, June 28th, Angel Deluxe No. 03-006 Bh 1516 of Bagmati Province going to Kathmandu from Birgunj and Ganpati Deluxe Bus No. 032495 Bh 001 of Bagmati Pradesh coming from Kathmandu to Gaur went missing in the Trishuli River along with a landslide in Simaltal.

Out of the 65 people on the bus, three people got out safely, while 62 people went missing. Till date, 15 dead bodies have been found in different areas. The working group formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday to study the incident is going to conduct the on-site study on Wednesday.