Bhotekoshi flood a wake-up call for vulnerable communities of Nepal’s Srilanka Island

ITAHARI, Sept 17: Sixty-two-year-old Arjun Chandrabanshi of Barahakshetra Municipality-6 in Sunsari is in his twilight years. He has lived on the fertile Srilanka Island, a river village in eastern Nepal surrounded by the Saptakoshi River, since birth. But this year, as the Saptakoshi River has continued eroding land and reached close to his house, he has become increasingly worried that the river could sweep it away. He is in a dilemma about where to go after leaving the fertile land his family has farmed for generations.