Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains have left left at least 170 people dead and 42 missing in Nepal, government officials said. According to the authorities, rescue operations are underway as reports of deaths and destructions are pouring in. The number of casualties is expected to be higher than the officially announced number, said sources. On Sunday, police recovered 13 bodies trapped in a Kathmandu-bound bus that was swept away by the Jhyapke river in Dhadong district , around 40 km away from the capital. The preliminary damage to property and standing crops due to the floods was estimated at around 24. 5 million Nepali rupees (over INR 15 million), said Energy Minister Deepak Khadka. The rains have also damaged 26 power projects, halting 1,200 MW of energy production. According to PTI, large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday. National highways have been blocked since Saturday, with hundreds of people stranded on multiple highways due to landslides. At least 322 houses and 16 bridges have been damaged. Over 20,000 security personnel have been mobilised to rescue people, sources said, adding that nearly 3,626 people have been moved to safety. Home Ministry spokesperson Rishiram Tiwari said all apparatuses were being mobilised to open sections of highways damaged by landslides. Eyewitnesses said they had never seen such a devastating flood and inundation in the Kathmandu Valley in 40-45 years. At least 19 people were killed on Saturday when a bus was buried in a landslide in Dhading district bordering Kathmandu. Five people died when a house collapsed under a landslide in the city of Bhaktapur. Meanwhile, the country has shut schools for three days. The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley. Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 322.2 mm, pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 m past the danger mark. —With Agencies
