Oct 11, Kathmandu - At least 47 people have been rescued and moved to safety after flooding along the Budhi Gandaki River, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said Sunday.

NDRRMA Chief Executive Dr. Dharmaraj Upreti said 386 security personnel—including teams from the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force—had been deployed for search-and-rescue operations. Four Nepali Army helicopters were also sent to the affected areas.

The flooding has damaged or swept away several bridges and homes across Gorkha District. A suspension bridge linking Nyakchet in Chumnubri Rural Municipality–3 with Sirdibas was washed away, along with one house; floodwater entered another. A second suspension bridge, connecting Machhikhola in Dharche Rural Municipality–5 with Karunja, was also destroyed.

Authorities have received reports that the under-construction Sahaj Urja hydropower plant in Sallery, Dharche–3, and seven to eight nearby homes were swept away. In Arughat Rural Municipality–9, floodwaters destroyed the Gorkha-side section of the motorable bridge linking Gorkha and Dhading. More than 20 homes in the lower settlement of Machhikhola are at risk.

The flood also reportedly washed away an iron bridge connecting wards 2 and 3 of Arughat, damaged parts of the Budhi Gandaki 341-megawatt project’s main camp and construction equipment, and affected homes and a Bailey bridge at the 24.5-megawatt Dobhan Khola project site.

Technical teams from the NDRRMA and the Department of Roads, equipped with drones, have been deployed to investigate the cause of the flooding and assess the damage. They will also examine whether a temporary Bailey bridge can be installed at Arughat.

Authorities said they were continuing to collect details of the damage.