Sugabathan village is located in Jhapa rural municipality-2 in the southern part of eastern Nepal. Where more than 50 families live. In the villages inhabited by the Hemeram, Tudu and Santhal communities, there are only small bamboo houses. This village has always been in danger due to the floods of the Kankai River, which flows only 50 meters from the west of the settlement. Even on Saturday morning, 22 families were drowned here.

48-year-old Dharamalal Hemaram of Sugabathan remembers the days gone by looking at the Kankai River flowing from the west side of his house. This river in which the floods have displaced his family many times. When the flood entered the village, he and his family went to a nearby school to take shelter.

Floods have flooded his house many times . "You can't sleep safely in the snow". It is not known when the village will be flooded,' says Hemeram, 'There is neither a strong embankment nor any other measures to prevent the flood. Now it started raining . There is fear that this year the village itself will be displaced.

Sugabthan was displaced twice due to floods in Kankai in 2066 and 67. The villagers took shelter in the nearby Kuwadi Devi Mavi for months. Even in October 2081, the flood entered the village . Last year, the entire village was flooded even though they did not have to evacuate.

According to Hemeram, the flood of Kankai used to damage not only Sugathan but also settlements like Tappu and Simalbadi on the banks of the river . However, after the river control program started under the People's Embankment Program in 2066/67, embankments have been constructed in most areas. There is no embankment in the flood-prone area towards Sugabathan.

The construction process has just begun. According to him, an embankment has yet to be constructed in an area of ​​1800 meters on the east side of the river. Of that, embankment construction work has recently started in 420 meters area. It is not certain that it will be completed before the next monsoon. "If the dam was built before the rains, we would have been safe," says Hemeram. According to him, in 2066/67, there was a flood from Tappu village, which is north of Sugabathan. As soon as Tappu, Sugabathan village became displaced .

Then the construction of the embankment proceeded . However, it could not be continued due to the land dispute. "The people of the river banks are determined not to allow the dam to be built on their private land. Because of this, the embankment work that was about to start was stopped," he said, "After the dispute was settled, the embankment work has just started in the rest of the area. But, will it be finished before the rains or not?'

In October 2081, when the flood came, Kankai changed the river and killed the sugathan. The embankment has not been built at the place from which the river flows towards the village. Another local Ranjan Tudu says that if the embankment is not built, this year's flood could displace the village again. According to Tudu, Sugabathan village is below the surface of the river. Due to this, he said that when the flood comes, they can easily enter the village.

'The village is deeper than the river . Now the embankment building process has started . However, the work is not being done rapidly,' says Tudu, 'which has increased our anxiety.' In 1952, a settlement settled here. However, the flood in the river kept displacing the village. We moved three times,' he says, 'will it be the same this year?'

2066 that day in mid-June The nearby kankai was flowing wildly. It was impossible to see anything from one side to the other. Durga Hemaram of Sugabathan used to watch the river all day to see if the flood would enter the village. Couldn't sleep at night. She was afraid of the continuously increasing rain. The flood did not stop and increased. Finally, the flood of Kankai from Tappu moved towards the village . Sugabathan was also not left untouched .

'And we all went to the school to take shelter with the cattle. The village was flooded,' Durga remembers the days when she was displaced. But, who will listen to us ?' So Sugabathan is not the only village that will be affected when floods occur in Kankai. Tappu, 2 km north of Sugabathan, is the most affected area. However, since the embankment has been built here, there is no danger of flooding now.

Dataram Sivakoti, who came to Jhapa from Tehrathum in the eastern hilly district in the 40s, arrived at Jhapa Rural Municipality-6 Tappu in 2047. However, Sivakoti continued to suffer from Kankai flood . Sometimes he stayed by the river and sometimes he moved across the river. Now he is not as scared as before. "First, the flood made the dust cry". Not so now . The dam has been built . What will happen if the dam itself collapses,' recalls 69-year-old Sivakoti.

Acting Chairperson of Jhapa Rural Municipality, Anjudevi Thapalia, says that despite many efforts, the embankment construction work has started late due to insufficient budget. The embankment is under construction. There is no way to say whether or not it can be done in time,' she says.

According to him, 1, 2, 5, 6 and other wards of the rural municipality are at high risk of flooding. She also says that the municipality is making necessary preparations for the upcoming disaster. There is an emergency committee in the municipality. In which necessary discussions are being made regarding the location of the displaced citizens during the disaster, relief, etc., she says.

Since then, Vijay Kumar Regmi, the head of the People's Embankment Program Jhapa, is not confident that the construction of the embankment will be completed before the monsoon. According to him, disaster and river control work is being done in 22 packages across the district. In which there are 14 disaster and 8 river control works.

for which the office does not have funds to pay the contractor . On the other hand, the contractor is asking for money for the work. Due to this, the contractor has stopped the construction work, he said. We are saying that your money will not be lost, you should do the work. They are also working. However, when the contractor has stopped the work, the embankment cannot be built before the monsoon, he says. According to

chief Regmi, after the tender was called on 11th January 2081, after completing all the necessary procedures, a bilateral agreement was reached between the embankment office and the construction business to proceed with the work only on 7th Baisakh. According to the head of the program, Regmi, river control work is being done in two places of Biring, Mechi and Kamal rivers. Embankments are being constructed at Kankai 1 and Ratuwamai 1 .

The cost of embankment in all these places is estimated at 260 million, and the work is being done with a contract of 181.2 million. On the other hand, the work related to the disaster has not yet been contracted. The work of Jhapa and Shivasatakshi municipalities is continuing with the contract, but the contract has not been completed in other places. Although there is a plan to do disaster related work in 14 packages, only two places have been contracted.