Drones deliver relief to Gorkha settlements cut off after floods washed out roads

Relief has been delivered by drone to remote settlements in Gorkha that lost contact with the outside world after floods washed away roads.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said it is flying drones to transport relief to places vehicles cannot reach. The authority said this work is being continued even during the Dasain holidays so that supplies needed by affected families are not held up.

According to the authority's executive chief Dr Dharmaraj Uprety, the authority currently has four drones. He said relief is being distributed by these drones in flood-hit, road-cut areas of both Gorkha and Rasuwa.

Dr Uprety said drones have proved effective for delivering relief in areas of difficult terrain where roads are blocked. After floods washed away structures such as roads and bridges, sending supplies to affected settlements had become difficult for the authority. It said drones are therefore being used to the maximum extent for both rescue and relief work.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the country is currently under the partial influence of westerly winds. The department said one or two places in the Himalayan regions of Gandaki, Bagmati and Koshi provinces may see light rain or snow with thunder and lightning today. It forecast partly cloudy weather tomorrow in the Himalayan and hill regions of these three provinces.