Nine days have passed since Gangaram Mukhiya of Baghkhor, Madhyabindu Municipality-5, Nawalpur, and his son Bishal Mukhiya went missing following the devastating flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. Sitaram Mahato and his son Yuddha Mahato, from the same village, have also remained out of contact.
According to Chief District Officer Jagadishwor Upadhyay, Gangaram Mukhiya and his son Bishal, Sitaram Mahato and his son Yuddha, Hem Bahadur Chaudhary, Jeevan BK, Eak Dev Mahato, Num Narayan Mahato, Keshav Prasad Mahato and Tej Bahadur Tharu from Madhyabindu-5 have gone missing.
All of them were working at Tenzing Sherpa Hydropower Building Construction in Timure, Rasuwagadhi.
Their families are anxiously waiting for any news of their missing loved ones. Gangaram had spoken to his wife on the morning before the flood and told her, “The work will be completed in 12 days. I will return home as soon as the work is finished.” But the flood that struck a few hours later left him and his son out of contact.
According to Gangaram’s wife, Mina Kumari Mukhiya, she spoke to her husband by phone at around 7 am on the day of the flood.
Gangaram told her that he and their son were about to leave for work. After speaking to him, Mina Kumari also went to work. But a few hours later, a neighbour called and informed her about the massive flood in Rasuwa.
“Around 11 am, a neighbour called and told me about the flood in Rasuwa,” Mina said. “Since then, I have been calling my husband and son every day. I have not lost hope that one day I will hear them answer the phone and say ‘hello’.”
Gangaram’s daughter, Yam Kumari Mukhiya, is also waiting for her father and elder brother to return. Nine days after the flood, with no news of them, her worry and pain have deepened.
“Every time my mobile phone rings, I hope it might be news about my father or brother,” she said. Bir Bahadur Kumal, a ward member of Madhyabindu-5, said elected representatives from the ward had gone to the disaster site and searched for the missing people for four days but returned without finding either survivors or bodies.
Top Bahadur Mahato, a local, said silence had descended across the village as several of his relatives, including his nephew, son-in-law and grandson, remained missing. He said the families had visited various hospitals in Kathmandu to check for bodies but had been unable to identify their relatives, leaving them deeply distressed.
Another local, Krishna Bahadur Hamal Thakuri, said the entire village was in pain and everyone was worried as neither the bodies nor any signs of life had been found of relatives who were connected by blood and marriage and were like one family. The families share a single wish, “We want to hear some news about our relatives who went missing after the Bhotekoshi flood. We want them to return home safely.”
Twenty people from Nawalpur have gone missing in the devastating Bhotekoshi flood of August 26, according to the District Administration Office. The list includes 13 people from Madhyabindu Municipality, three from Kawasoti, three from Binayi Tribeni, and one each from Gaindakot and Devchuli municipalities.
