Budhigandaki flood: Ice avalanche from 6,000 meters also to blame

A preliminary study has shown that the flood that struck the Budhigandaki River in northern Gorkha on Sunday may have been caused by a glacier or a large mass of ice breaking off and falling in the high Himalayan region. The Budhigandaki flood came a month and a half after the devastating flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa.

A technical report on the flood states that a large landslide fell from a height of 6,000 meters. According to the report, the landslide also generated a force equivalent to a 3.5-magnitude earthquake.

The flood has caused extensive damage in Chumnubri Rural Municipality in northern Gorkha. Six people remain missing so far, and large-scale damage has been caused to physical infrastructure.

A thousand houses in Chumnubri Rural Municipality have been without electricity for three days. Locals have demanded that the rural municipality be declared a crisis-hit area.