When Ilam wept

The intense rainfall earlier this month illustrated how diverse its impacts can be.

Reeling from last year’s deadly debris flows at Simaltal and Jhyaple khola that killed nearly a hundred people, and heeding the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM)’s forecast of heavy rain for October 3 through 6 earlier this month, the government took stringent precautionary measures ahead of time. Major highways were shut down, and a two-day public holiday was declared to avert risks to travellers. A prelude to what might happen with heavy rain had already been witnessed near Muglin, where a landslide at Tuin Khola blocked the highway for 45 hours and a subsequent 53 hours within the span of five days (September 19–23), affecting thousands of people travelling home for the Dashain festivities. As predicted, the rain began on the night of October 3 and continued relentlessly into the evening on the 5, dumping over 300 mm of rain in the Tarai and about 200 mm in the Valley.