“We’ll talk in the evening.” At around 6:00 am last Wednesday, Sabin Ranamagar said these words to his wife, Rabina, over the phone before hanging up. Work was about to begin. At the other end of the call, Rabina was preparing to send their five-year-old daughter to school.
A short while later, the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa was hit by a devastating flood.
After hearing about the flood, Rabina called her husband. He did not answer. She tried repeatedly, but could not reach him. The conversation that morning, ending with “We’ll talk in the evening,” turned out to be their last.
Sabin, from Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-2 of Makwanpur, had been working as a driver at a hydropower project in Rasuwa for four years. He had recently returned home for a month-long leave but left again on August 23, saying that the company had called him back.
According to Sabin’s aunt, Nanaimaya Rana, he left home on Sunday, stayed in Kathmandu and reached Rasuwa on Tuesday. He resumed work the following day.
“He came home on a month’s leave, but had to return after five or six days because the company called him back,” she said. “He arrived on Tuesday and started work on Wednesday. Everything was over in an instant.”
The family remained hopeful for two days after losing contact with him. Then Rabina began visiting hospitals and places where recovered bodies were being kept, searching for Sabin.
The search ended on Monday, when a body was found in Nawalparasi. The condition of the body made identification by the face difficult. The family eventually identified Sabin by the tattoo on his left hand.
Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-2 Ward Chairman Kashiram Bajyu said the family identified Sabin’s body based on the tattoo.
Sabin’s father has been working abroad in Saudi Arabia for the past 14 to 15 years. His family consists of his mother, brother, wife Rabina and five-year-old daughter.
While Sabin’s family waited for news of him, another family in Dhungedhara, Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City-5, was going through a similar ordeal.
Uddhav Khadka had been working as a tipper driver at the Chilime Hydropower Project for two years. He had taken his wife, Niru, and daughter, Nimisa, with him to Rasuwa. He had rented a room near his daughter’s school so that she could attend classes easily.
After videos of the flood began circulating on social media, Uddhav’s relatives started calling him. Neither he nor his wife could be reached. For some time, there was no news of any of the three.
On August 27, a team from Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City travelled to Rasuwa to search for them and others reported missing.
The team was forced to stop in Kathmandu after roads were blocked. After searching several hospitals without finding any information, the team reached Nuwakot on August 28.
There, they found two names on a list of people rescued by helicopter by the Nepal Police: Niru Khadka and Nimisa Khadka.
Mother and daughter were alive.
Arrangements were made to bring them back to Hetauda. The family then hoped that Uddhav, too, might have been rescued and taken somewhere else. But his name did not appear on any rescue list.
The family continued searching hospitals and other possible locations. Eventually, Uddhav’s body was found in Nawalparasi on August 28.
Hetauda-5 Ward Chairman Sushil Ghimire said Uddhav used to visit his family once a week because of his work schedule. He was at work when the flood struck.
“Uddhav came to the room on Saturday and went to work on Sunday. He had rented a room near his daughter’s school and kept his family there so that it would be easier to send her to school,” Ward Chairman Ghimire said. “When the flood came suddenly, his wife and daughter were in the room and managed to stay safe.”
Niru and Nimisa returned to Hetauda. Uddhav, however, did not.
Sabin had worked in Rasuwa for four years and Uddhav for two. But 26-year-old Suman Gole of Bhorle, Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City-15, had arrived in Rasuwa only two months earlier, hoping to earn a better income.
Suman, who had previously worked as an operator at the Ridhi Sidhi Cement Plant, was working as an excavator operator at a hydropower project in Rasuwa.
On the morning of the flood, he returned to his room after completing his night shift. At around 6:00 am, he spoke to his wife, Revika, over the phone.
He told her he was tired after working through the night and would sleep before calling her again in the afternoon.
According to his neighbour, Nirmala Ghalan, that was the last time Suman spoke to his wife.
“He went there for work only two months ago, thinking the salary would be good. He spoke to his wife after completing his night duty. He said he would talk to her in the afternoon after getting some sleep. The flood swept him away,” she said.
After seeing news of the flood, Suman’s family repeatedly tried to call him but could not reach him. According to Nirmala, his friends later told the family that Suman had been asleep when the flood struck.
His friends tried to wake him and urged him to run, but he could not escape in time.
The family’s wait ended in grief when Suman’s body was also found in Nawalparasi. He is survived by his wife, four-year-old son and younger brother.
Sabin, Uddhav and Suman came from different places and arrived in Rasuwa at different times. Their jobs and circumstances were different, but the reason that had taken all three far from home was the same: employment.
Their work at Rasuwa’s hydropower projects had brought them together in a place far from their families. Until the flood, all three remained in contact with their loved ones.
Sabin told his wife, “We’ll talk in the evening.” Suman said he would catch up on sleep and call his wife in the afternoon. Uddhav had spoken to his family the day before.
Then their phones stopped ringing.
At first, their families waited for a call. Then they began looking for their names on lists of rescued people. They went from hospital to hospital. They searched places where recovered bodies were being kept.
Uddhav’s family hoped he had survived, just as his wife and daughter had. Sabin’s family could not recognise his face and had to identify him from a tattoo on his hand.
All three men had left home for work with plans to return.
Sabin had gone back to work only a few days earlier. Suman had arrived in Rasuwa just two months before. Uddhav had taken his family with him as they tried to build a better future.
The Bhotekoshi swept those plans away one morning.
Sabin and Suman, who had promised to call again, never did. Uddhav’s wife and daughter survived the flood and returned home, but he did not.
For the three men who left home in search of employment, the journey back did not end on the road home. It ended with their families identifying their bodies.
