Residents of Lamakhet in a dilemma after Kaligandaki river snatched away their life’s earnings

लगानी न्यूज

१४ आश्विन २०८३, बुधबार ०७:२०September 30, 2026

Myagdi. Bal Kumari Rawal of Beni Municipality-1, Ratnechaur, who has built a house in Jaljala Rural Municipality-4 of Parbat district, has not been able to sleep peacefully for the last three days.

After the incessant rains from September 22 to 12, the flood in the Kaligandaki River has made it difficult for him to decide whether to leave the house he has been living with for the rest of his life or to stay there.

} “I had never imagined that the flood of Kaligandaki river would rise up to six meters high, but on the night of September 10, the flood submerged my house and swept away my belongings, making clothes, utensils and belongings muddy,” she said.

Rawal, who has been making a living by running a restaurant and a grocery shop, said, “If we live in this place, we will see the glow of floods.TAG_OPEN_div_43 ”

TAG_OPEN_div_41 After the floods, most of the residents of Lamakhet, including Rawal, have stopped sleeping at home. They come to Beni Bazaar after having dinner in the evening and return home in the morning. Cleaning the muddy things soaked by the floods has become their daily routine.

Aayush Pun, a 6th grader at Prakash Secondary School in Beni, complained that he could not wear clothes after the flood and could not go to school as he had to help his parents clear the mud.TAG_OPEN_div_39

Rupi Budha of Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-5, Bhedikhalta, who lives in Lamakhet, is in a dilemma whether to leave the house. “We would be confident only if we could protect and make Lamakhet, the center and office of Jaljala Rural Municipality, habitable,” she said. It is difficult to leave the house built by investing a lifetime of earnings and return to the village.TAG_OPEN_div_37 ”

Although Lamakhet is located in the geography of Parbat district, which has expanded rapidly in the last 15 years, most of them have migrated from different rural areas of Myagdi. Most of the people in Lamakhet have built houses in Lamakhet to educate their children by selling their land and land in the village.

More than TAG_OPEN_div_33 25 houses in the lower part of Lamakhet were flooded. Locals say that the flood had not occurred before crossing the embankment. Tikaram Pun, a local, complained that the road connecting Beni to Lamakhet was also damaged by the landslide.

Megh Bahadur Rai said that he is looking for a room in Beni Bazaar due to the fear of floods. “The people of Lamakhet are in fear due to the collapse of the road and a big landslide across Kaligandaki,” he said. Amit Pun, a local, said that the flood and mud entering the house have been removed, but it is difficult to remove the cold that has entered the heart. Amit Pun, a local, said that the embankment should be built to make Lamakhet habitable.TAG_OPEN_div_31

For the time being, a backloader is needed to clear the sand piled up in the settlement. Lal Bahadur Chhantyal stressed on the need to open the road connecting Beni, supply drinking water and make Lamakhet habitable by implementing a long-term river erosion control plan.

According to Raju Prasad Acharya, chairperson of Jaljala Rural Municipality, the floods have damaged many settlements including Lamakhet, Lamabagar and Farse, as well as Tamwang and Khanigaun of Dhairing. He said that 14 groups have been mobilized since Tuesday to prevent human loss for the time being, to resume transportation on the blocked roads and to fulfill basic needs.TAG_OPEN_div_27

Acharya said that they have been requested to take precaution in the risky areas as the land has cracked in the upper part of the Maldhunga-Beni road. He said that the other budget of the rural municipality will be cut and focused on disaster, and plans and budget will be sought from the federal and provincial governments for reconstruction and rehabilitation.TAG_OPEN_div_25