Sunkoshi landslide dam bursts after 37 days (with photos)

SINDHUPALCHOWK, Sept 7:Locals of Khandichaur area in Sindhupalchowk district ran for cover after the dam formed by the August 2 landslide burst in the wee hours of Sunday.
Though this comes at a time when the massive landslide at Jure VDC that claimed 156 lives in three VDCs of Sindhupalchowk is still fresh in their mind, the damage was very limited.

Four motorbikes parked on the banks of the Sunkoshi at Khandichaur and some pigs at a nearby farm were swept away, according to Police Inspector Jayashwar Rimal of the Area Police Office, Bahrabise.

With the burst of the dam, which was formed 37 days ago, the water level has drastically receded to as low as 20 meters as of Sunday evening.
The Nepal Army had been relentlessly trying to unclog the dam soon after the landslide.



Caption:A settlement in Jure VDC in Sindhupalchowk that was submerged by the lake formed in the Sunkoshi River by a landslide dam on August 2 re-emerges Sunday after 37 days when the river burst the dam and the water drained out.(Chandra Shekhar Karki/Republica)

“With the dam collapse, threats posed by the dam have reduced significantly. Now we do not need to worry much about it,” said Colonel Roshan Rana.
According to him, the dam eventually burst at around 4 am on Sunday.

In addition to the natural flow of water through the dam, the army had been deploying cofferdam technology to drain the dam over the recent days.
In the first 10 days, the NA used controlled explosives and drills to open the passage to siphon water off the dam. Three excavators were later airlifted to the site to construct the cofferdam.

According to Colonel Rana, the flow of water from the dam has rapidly increased after the opening of the outlet by the army personnel.

Meanwhile, the silt from the burst dam has blocked three out of four spillways of Sunkoshi Small Hydropower Project downstream.
“Only one of the spillways has been functioning,” said Police Inspector Raj Kumar Thapa of the District Police Office (DPO).

With the receding level of water at the dam, infrastructures that remained submerged in upstream areas have started to resurface.

A total of 19 houses were submerged following the Sunkoshi landslide. However, some four to five storied houses still remain inundated near the Araniko Highway.
The structure of 2.5 MW Sanima Hydropower Project at Dhuskun VDC, which was completely submerged in water, is now visible.

Shree Kamal Dwivedi, a geologist at the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention, informed that 75 percent of water accumulated in the dam has now been released. The remaining 25 percent of water is also gradually being siphoned.

A 400-meter wide and 2007-meter long dam was formed after the 48-meter high debris of Jure landslide blocked the flow of the mighty Sunkoshi.



Caption:People salvaging a motorcycle after the lake outburst flood swept away a motorcycle workshop on Sunday.


Caption: Rising waters from the Sunkoshi River threaten the roadside houses at Khandichaur on Sunday morning after the river burst the landslide dam formed on August 2.



Caption:An excavator swept away by the lake outburst flood in the river on Sunday.


Caption:Locals help a Chinese tourist in Mankha on Sunday.


Caption: The spot where the river burst the landslide dam.