Express in Nepal | Houses buried in mud, fields, orchards destroyed: ‘We have nothing left now’

At dawn on Wednesday, the tranquil hamlet of 1 Number Pul in Nepal's Nuwakot district, situated alongside the Bhotekoshi river, was abruptly transformed into a submerged wasteland. Only seven houses now remain standing, with three of them engulfed in mud up to their second floor. The verdant rice and maize fields, as well as the banana and apple orchards, have been obliterated.

Mangled banana plants drape a rooftop, while a mango tree's bare trunk and branches lie covered in mud. The hamlet's name originates from a bridge spanning the river, a component of the Trishuli hydroelectric project, which, along with the floodgates, the bridge it bears its name from, and the three-lane highway leading to the Rasuwa district, are all concealed beneath the sludge of mud and debris.

Dwarka Nath Pyakuryal, a resident of the area who was preparing breakfast on Wednesday, recounts the moment he heard an unearthly roar. He ascended to the third floor of his residence, which is merely 30 meters from the riverbank and 500 meters downstream from the floodgates of the Trishuli hydel project. In mere minutes, the floodwaters enveloped his fields of rice and maize, the banana and mango orchards, his poultry, and his tractor.

His eldest daughter-in-law succumbed to the flood, among seven family members who managed to survive. Pyakuryal and his wife are now left with just a few clothes, all drenched in mud.

The area, once populated by 19 houses and around 150 residents, including a temple, cooperative bank branch, grocery store, and funeral home, now echoes with an unnerving silence. Most inhabitants have fled to higher ground. Pyakuryal's cousin, Sita, among the few remaining, is overcome with grief as she gazes at the spot where her house once stood, having lost a daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the flood.

Pyakuryal, however, is resolute in his determination to move forward. Despite the haunting memories, he says he must find solace to survive, playing with a local dog named Khaire who has also endured the catastrophe.