Kathmandu. Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said that 48 suspension bridges have been damaged due to floods in Bhotekoshi and 20 need to be repaired and 28 new ones need to be constructed.

He said this while addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

During the meeting, he informed that 40 km of the Bidur-Vetravati-Mailung-Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road section of the Galchi-Vetravati-Rasuwagadhi road has been completely damaged and 16 km has been partially damaged. He said that Krishnabhir and Parewabhir and other areas along the Prithvi Highway have been damaged.

According to him, vehicular movement along the highway has been resumed after removing silt from Galchhi, Baireni, Jarikhet, Pokhare, Munge and Galaudi sections.

“A total of 31 motorable bridges have been washed away in the affected areas. The process of installing bailey bridges at two of them has started. The construction of a bailey bridge is underway by removing the mud on the Galchi-Devighat section of the Galchi-Vetravati road. Preparations are being made to install a bailey bridge at Tadi Devighat. It is possible to have a bailey bridge in Betrawati as well, so the work has already started. A feasibility study is being done to install bailey bridges at 20 more places,” Shah said.

He further informed that the repair of the Narayangadh-Muglin road section would be completed by mid-August.

During the meeting, Minister Pun said that the communication service which was disrupted in the flood-hit areas has been restored since the second day and 95 per cent service has been restored till Thursday.

Currently, 30 satellite phones are communicating in places that are out of the reach of communication services, he claimed.

The flood has caused major damage to the hydropower projects and solar projects operating and under construction in the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli corridor. Eight projects (281 MW) and 4 under construction (388 MW) have been damaged. Only a few of them can be repaired and it will require a huge investment. Due to the floods, 431.1 MW of power generation has been disrupted.

In Nuwakot, we are restoring electricity to 85 percent of the area through alternative transmission system. In Dhading, 98 percent of the electricity service has been restored. In Rasuwa, 40 percent of the electricity service has been restored.

Indian, Chinese and Korean expert teams are being deployed for rescue work in the hydropower project area. Most of the Galchhi-Vetravati-Rasuwagadhi road and the Galchhi-Muglin section of the Prithvi Highway were damaged due to the floods.