Aagya Khabar
Bardibas

On Sunday evening, a sudden flood in the Ratu River at Badiya in Balwa Municipality–3, Mahottari district, claimed the life of one person.

According to the Mahottari District Police Office, the deceased has been identified as 35-year-old Chandan Thakur of Dhamhi, Mahottari Rural Municipality–3. Thakur was returning home from Pataul after buying diesel for a tractor when he fell into the river while attempting to cross a suspension bridge with his bicycle.

Local resident Rajkumar Sah said that continuous rainfall in the northern areas had caused an excessive water flow in the Ratu River. “We had warned him not to cross the bridge, but he tried to cross carrying his bicycle on his back, slipped, and was swept away,” Sah recounted. Despite immediate rescue attempts, the strong current made it impossible to save him.

Police Inspector Nand Kishor Chauhan said the body was handed over to the family on Monday after a post-mortem at the Provincial Hospital in Jaleshwar.

The flood also inundated dozens of bighas of arable land in Balwa and Mahottari Rural Municipalities. According to former chairperson Sunil Yadav, the sluice gates of the CDO Dam in Mahottari Rural Municipality were opened after the water level rose. The river’s water level is now gradually receding.