44 out of 73 roads are completely blocked. Out of 23 bridges, 12 have been completely destroyed and 20 suspension bridges have been completely damaged.
What you should know
Due to the severe floods and landslides of October 18 and 19, not only people's wealth, but also the state's decades of investment were washed away with the flood and were destroyed by the landslide.
Especially many roads built with the investment of the Koshi state government were washed away. The bridge was washed away . The source of drinking water collapsed. According to the joint data of Koshi's Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Irrigation, the damage to the infrastructure worth more than 2.6 billion rupees has been caused by the two-day calamity alone.
According to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, investment worth 1.98 billion rupees has been wasted in roads and bridges alone. There were roads invested by the provincial government in various municipalities of Ilam. Some already built, some under construction . Physical Infrastructure Development Minister Bhupendra Rai estimated that the loss of 19 million rupees may have been caused when all those roads were washed away. "Bridges worth 385 million rupees were destroyed," said Minister Rai.
Not only in Ilam, rural roads in Panchthar, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu and Okhaldhunga were also damaged. There is still no traffic operation. 44 out of 73 roads are still completely blocked. 12 out of 23 bridges were completely destroyed and 20 suspension bridges were completely damaged.
Similarly, according to the Ministry of Energy, Water and Irrigation, 99 water and irrigation projects have been damaged by floods and landslides.
Panchthar and Jhapa along with Ilam alone are estimated to have suffered more than 70 million rupees in damage. Streams have dried up, pipelines have been ruptured and the crisis of clean drinking water in villages is increasing .
Energy, Water and Irrigation Minister Ekraj Karki said, "It seems that it may take years to rebuild the damaged structures."
The meeting of the state government's disaster management committee has formed a high-level task force for relief and reconstruction. Economic Affairs Minister Ram Bahadur Magar, Physical Infrastructure Minister Bhupendra Rai and Internal Affairs Minister Revati Raman Bhandari are members of the working group which will immediately formulate an action plan and start work for reconstruction.
Experts are of the opinion that the provincial government needs to be serious about what to do to prevent the recurrence of structural weaknesses in the future rather than reconstructing damaged plans. "The reconstruction of roads and bridges is not only a matter of budget, it is also a task to restore confidence in the future of the province," the leader of Biratnagar, Dr. Vedaraj Acharya said .
The government has decided to provide Rs 25 lakh in Ilam, Rs 10 lakh in Jhapa and Rs 5 lakh each in Panchthar, Morang, Sunsari . It is said that this amount will be spent on temporary relief and repairs. However, Amit Rumdali Rai of Ilam Municipality-10 Rajduwali, who lost everything due to Mai Khola, asked the provincial government, "Roads and bridges will be built, but how will we return the years of hard work and investment that we have lost?"
