Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 151 | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 25, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2025
Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 151

South Asia

Reuters
29 September, 2024, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 29 September, 2024, 09:01 pm

Related News

  • Sudden flood hits Feni’s Parshuram as water level rises 3.2 metres in three hours
  • Death toll rises to 14 in South Korea as heavy rain triggers landslide and flooding
  • South Korea lashed by heavy rain, one dead and more than 100 evacuated
  • Over 41,000 families stranded due to Noakhali flood
  • Nepal stresses regional unity against terrorism at Kathmandu forum

Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 151

The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital

Reuters
29 September, 2024, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 29 September, 2024, 09:01 pm
People cross the bridge amid the overflowing Bagmati River following heavy rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo
People cross the bridge amid the overflowing Bagmati River following heavy rains, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo

Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 151 people, with 56 missing, officials said on Sunday.

The floods brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital.

Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days," Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters.

Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 322.2 mm (12.7 inches), pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 m (7 ft) past the danger mark, experts said.

But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital.

"There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely," he said.

Television images showed police rescuers in knee-high rubber boots using picks and shovels to clear away mud and retrieve 16 bodies of passengers from two buses swept away by a massive landslide at a site on the key route into Kathmandu.

Weather officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighbouring India close to Nepal.

Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

"I've never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu," said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the centre.

In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to "urgently" step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the "grey", or engineered kind, and "green", or nature-based type.

The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanisation efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati river, it added.

The level in the Koshi river in Nepal's southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region's top bureaucrat.

The river, which brings deadly floods to India's eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.

Top News / World+Biz / Climate Change

Nepal / Heavy Rain / Flooding

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • The supporters of local Awami League and Chhatra League locked in a clash with police following attacks on NCP convoy this afternoon (16 July). Photo: Collected
    5 killed in political clash in Gopalganj: ASK demands independent investigation
  • Infographics: TBS
    Inflated rents, ghost floors, Tk220cr advance: How Premier Bank funds lined Iqbal family’s pocket
  • On 21 July, a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) F-7 BGI training fighter jet crashed into Milestone School and College in Uttara, killing at least 31. Photo: Mehedi Hasan
    Milestone tragedy: Death toll rises to 32 as another child dies

MOST VIEWED

  •  ABM Khairul Haque. File Photo: Collected
    Former chief justice Khairul Haque detained
  • File photo of Bangladesh Bank. Photo: TBS
    Governor Mansur orders withdrawal of BB dress code after directive draws criticism
  • Hasina and Taposh in an event in 2020. Photo: Collected
    Al Jazeera investigation: Hasina, in call with Taposh, talks using helicopter to shoot, crush protesters in July uprising
  • Representational image. File photo: TBS
    Govt okays proposed tariff structure for Chattogram Port, rates to rise by up to 440%
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Tariff talks: Bangladesh, US set for crucial virtual meeting on 29 July
  • Mehreen Ahmed speaking to media on 11 July 2025. Photo: Collected
    Court disposes of Dhaka girl's case against parents seeking 'protection from abuse'

Related News

  • Sudden flood hits Feni’s Parshuram as water level rises 3.2 metres in three hours
  • Death toll rises to 14 in South Korea as heavy rain triggers landslide and flooding
  • South Korea lashed by heavy rain, one dead and more than 100 evacuated
  • Over 41,000 families stranded due to Noakhali flood
  • Nepal stresses regional unity against terrorism at Kathmandu forum

Features

Illustration: TBS

The future of medicine: How innovations will catalyse quantum leaps in healthcare by 2055

16h | The Big Picture
Photo: Collected

24 July: More than 1400 arrested, 3 missing coordinators found

1d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help at burn institute

2d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Mourning turns into outrage as Milestone students seek truth and justice

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

All Previous Records Broken in Dinajpur, Rice Prices Are Rising

All Previous Records Broken in Dinajpur, Rice Prices Are Rising

1h | TBS Stories
There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

14h | TBS Today
Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

15h | TBS News Updates
Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

15h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net