RASUWA-BHOTEKOSHI FLOOD

Situation Summary — Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN)

For internal and partner circulation

  1   WHAT HAPPENED  

With search and rescue winding down, today’s report turns to the incoming weather. On 23 September (Ashwin 7), the Central Monsoon Response Command Post met all 77 District Monsoon Response Command Posts in the presence of Home Secretary Kedarnath Sharma to prepare for heavy rainfall forecast from 24 September. The meeting covered rainfall scenarios, precautions in high-risk districts, public information and traffic restrictions, and brought in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the Flood Forecasting Division, all three security forces, the Nepal Tourism Board and the Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs. NDRRMA Executive Chief Dr. Dharmaraj Upreti asked authorities in vulnerable areas to stay on full alert.

On the search side, the Rasuwa District Security Committee and project management teams have now formally determined through joint on-site inspections that search and rescue is no longer required at Rasuwagadhi, Langtang, Chilime and, for the first time, Trishuli 3A. Upper Trishuli-1 (outside the suspended Adit 3) and Trishuli 3B are the only sites still described as active. The death toll rose by 2 to 1,453, both recorded as human remains, and missing fell by 61 to 5,644. The casualty chart has also been corrected so that Rasuwa, not Nuwakot, now shows 236 deaths, matching the body-management chart (see Section 3).

  2   HEADLINE FIGURES  

  3   CASUALTIES AND MISSING  

The two additional deaths are in Chitwan (367 → 368) and Nuwakot (203 → 204), and both appear in the deceased breakdown as human body remains (530 → 532), so they are likely remains recovered downstream rather than new identified victims. The corrected casualty chart now lists Rasuwa at 236 and Nuwakot at 204, in line with the body-management chart. This also changes how the 20 September jump should be read: the +33 attributed to Nuwakot in RRN’s 20 September summary was most likely in Rasuwa, where Upper Trishuli-1 sits.

Missing fell by 61 (5,705 → 5,644), again entirely in Nuwakot’s “people from other districts” line (1,010 → 949). That line has now dropped from 1,179 to 949 over five reports as the 77-district verification continues; all other components are unchanged. Total rescued held at 13,795.

  4   SEARCH AND RESCUE AT HYDROPOWER SITES  

• Formal stand-downs: Rasuwagadhi, Langtang, Chilime and Trishuli 3A now all carry the same line: after joint on-site inspection by the Rasuwa District Security Committee and project management, search and rescue is no longer required at the site. For Chilime this replaces yesterday’s “paused” wording; Trishuli 3A is new to the list. Each entry still ends with a generic “search and rescue is ongoing” line, which reads as boilerplate.
• Upper Trishuli-1: Unchanged from 22 September: Adit 3 remains suspended because excavators cannot work around trucks, compressors, iron mesh and submerged machinery, and search continues in other sectors. The “6 bodies plus 31 additional” wording is repeated.
• Trishuli 3B: Unchanged. Residential quarters A1, A2, B1, B2 and D are still not located; search is described as continuing.

  5   DEAD BODY MANAGEMENT AND FORENSICS  

• Bodies: 1,453 recovered, 1,333 stored underground (unchanged) and 112 handed to families, leaving 8 not yet stored or handed over, up from 6 yesterday because the two new remains have not yet been stored.
• DNA: Samples from remains unchanged at 1,329; samples from relatives up 19 to 2,035. The combined figure is now 3,364.
• Forensic teams: Now described as 33 teams comprising 53 personnel in total, of which 3 specialised teams with 11 experts are active in the field. Yesterday’s report gave 4 active teams with 12 specialists. The international forensic list is repeated unchanged.

  6   HOLDING CENTRES AND HOUSING SUPPORT  

Holding-centre occupancy fell by 22 to 1,112. Nuwakot continues to empty (220 → 187), while Rasuwa rose for a third straight report (786 → 788 → 793 → 804). With heavy rain forecast, further increases in Rasuwa would be worth watching. The Alternative Housing and Livelihood Grant is repeated unchanged: NPR 15,000 a month per family of up to four, plus NPR 2,000 per additional member, for up to six months, implemented through local governments.

  7   SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE  

• Roads: Two-way traffic has now resumed at Sheetal Bazar as well as Krishnabhir on the Mugling–Malekhu section; yesterday Sheetal Bazar still had blasting underway. Tribhuvan Highway remains one-way near Nagdhunga and Pataleban. Bidur–Betrawati is unchanged at 9.5 of 10km.
• Communications: New: Ncell sites at Gatlang and Goljung in Rasuwa went down after a transformer malfunction and are being restored via a low-tension line with the Nepal Electricity Authority. Tower totals are otherwise unchanged (Nepal Telecom 117/120, Ncell 76/78). Electricity remains out for the same 86 households in Gosaikunda.
• Health: Health figures moved for the first time since 21 September: EMT services 8,344 → 8,717, holding-centre health services 10,420 → 11,656, and psychosocial counselling 12,057 → 12,969. Standby EMTs rose from 4 to 6. Ultrasound and X-ray services have been set up at the District Ayurveda and Alternative Health Center in Nuwakot because roads and bridges to Trishuli Hospital are damaged. The Gosaikunda Rural Municipality ambulance has moved over 26 severely affected people from the Dhunche helipad to Rasuwa Hospital. Water samples were taken from 3 temporary shelters in Bidur-5.
• Education: 52 learning centres (now described as across Nuwakot and Dhading), with new additions: hygiene supplies for students at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School (352 soaps, 2,400 shampoo sachets, 360 packs of sanitary pads), 9 ECED volunteer facilitators deployed in Nuwakot and Dhading, 551 children reached with MHPSS and PFA, and a support session for 31 people at Bhimsen Basic School, Nuwakot.
• Food security: The section returns after being absent: 365 food baskets (30-day supply) distributed in Belkotgadhi-7, Nuwakot, and 352 in Gyang, Amachhodingmo-2, Rasuwa. No agency is named. WASH content is unchanged.

  8   ONGOING RISK AND INFORMATION GAPS  

• Heavy rain: The forecast from 24 September adds landslide, flood and debris-flow risk to the Trishuli–Bhotekoshi corridor, road works at Betrawati and Sheetal Bazar, and holding-centre sites. NDRRMA’s meeting mentioned traffic restrictions, which may affect access to Rasuwa.
• Holding-centre split: The highlights give 9 centres in Rasuwa, 8 in Nuwakot and 4 in Dhading, while the health section lists 6 in Rasuwa, 9 in Nuwakot, 3 in Dhading and 3 in Kathmandu. Both total 21.
• Upper Trishuli-1 count: Whether the “6 bodies” are additional to the 31 remains unresolved.
• Langtang entry: Still describes work in the Adit-3 tunnel “of Upper Trishuli-1”.
• Sections dropped: Today’s report omits the protection section (women, children, GBV), the 5W relief tables and the DHM bulletin. This should not be read as those activities stopping.
• Resolved: The patient count is now consistent between highlights and dashboard (8), and the district casualty chart now matches the body-management chart.

  9   RRN FIELD RESPONSE: RASUWA  

• Latest distribution: On 21 September (Ashwin 5), RRN with support from Welthungerhilfe (WHH) distributed kitchen sets to 171 households in Gosaikunda Rural Municipality Ward 5: 143 in Thulo Syabru and 28 in Brabal. With the 17 September (Ashwin 1) distribution of hygiene kits and food items to 94 households in Thulobharku and 73 in Sano Bharkhu, RRN has now reached 338 households across the four Ward 5 settlements its first field mission (4–8 September) identified as under-served.
• Stock: The 19 September (Ashwin 3) consignment to RRN’s Dhunche warehouse carried kitchen sets for 350 households and hygiene kits for 150; kitchen sets for roughly 179 households remain from it.
• Government records: The most recent NDRRMA 5W data (22 September) lists RRN only in Uttargaya: RRN/WHH food relief packages (300 of 1,000 distributed), RRN/WHH high-thermal blankets (745 of 1,000) and a consortium in-kind food line. The Gosaikunda Ward 5 distributions are not yet reflected and will be submitted to NDRRMA (5W contact: 9849281097).
• Plans from 24 September: Despite heavy rain predicted across the country from 24 to 27 September (Ashwin 8–11), RRN will proceed with distributions and other planned activities in Rasuwa and Nuwakot from 24 September onwards.

RRN’s Rasuwa response is supported by WHH and delivered in partnership with Aasaman Nepal, through district and rural municipality coordination structures.