Tikapur, Aug 31 

The risk of the Karnali river breaching its bank has increased in Tikapur due to the rapid erosion of the river bank.

The Karnali river has eroded the embankment at local Mulpani of Janashakti community forest. The river has started eroding the embankment at the municipality’s wards no 2 which was constructed by the Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project. “There is rapid erosion on this section and it looks like the river will change its course at this location, which will cause damage in the nearby settlement,” said Jhapat Sodari, a local.

According to him, the settlements at ward no 2, 7 and 8 of the municipality would be washed away. Hundreds of houses would be inundated. Sodari said the river started eroding the embankment rapidly as it was weak although constructed a year back. “The river will wreak havoc in the settlements if measures are not taken to controlling the erosion. About 100 metres of the embankment is vulnerable.

If the embankment collapses, the water from the river will start gushing towards the settlements,” Sodari warned. Meanwhile, a team comprising Tikapur municipality mayor Tapendra Bahadur Rawal, representatives of the irrigation project and the project’s technicians has inspected the site. Mayor Rawal said after the inspection that the settlements are at risk and the municipality’s disaster prevention committee has decided to construct embankment using bioengineering method.

He said the municipality would also ask for help from the District Disaster Management Committee in this connection.