Snow avalanche behind Budhigandaki flood, no heavy rain in Gorkha, says weather agency

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has said that the severe flood that hit Gorkha's Budhigandaki River on Sunday was caused by a snow avalanche. According to the authority, the flood occurred after a snow avalanche came down from Lokpa and the northern region.

On Sunday morning, a snow avalanche occurred at Siringe Himal between Lokpa and Chumling in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-6. This triggered a massive flood in the Budhigandaki River, which flows from that area.

According to the Weather Forecasting Division, only light rainfall was recorded in Gorkha district over the past 24 hours. Since there is no record of rainfall heavy enough to cause flooding in the upper Budhigandaki region, experts suspect a snow avalanche was responsible. According to the Meteorological Department's preliminary findings, the flood may not have been caused by rainfall alone but could also be a disaster resulting from a landslide damming the river.

The floodwaters were also found mixed with debris and sediment. On Bhadra 10, a severe flood had hit the Bhotekoshi River. This Budhigandaki flood came 47 days after that one. The aerial distance between the two flood origin points is at most 70 kilometers.