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Nepal closes schools as deaths from heavy rains hit 129

Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan country eliminated 129 people, with 62 missing, officials stated on Sunday.

The floods brought traffic and typical activity to a. dead stop in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were. taped in a region home to 4 million people and the capital.

Authorities said trainees and their parents faced. problems as university and school buildings damaged by the. rains required repair.

We have actually advised the concerned authorities to close schools in. the impacted areas for 3 days, Lakshmi Bhattarai, a. spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters.

Some parts of the capital reported rain of as much as 322.2 mm. ( 12.7 inches), pressing the level of its primary Bagmati river up. 2.2 m (7 feet) past the danger mark, professionals said.

But there were some indications of break on Sunday morning, with. the rains alleviating in lots of places, stated Govinda Jha, a weather. forecaster in the capital.

There might be some separated showers, but heavy rains are. unlikely, he said.

Television images showed cops rescuers in knee-high rubber. boots using choices and shovels to eliminate mud and obtain 16. bodies of travelers from two buses swept away by a huge. landslide at a website on the crucial route into Kathmandu.

Weather condition officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a. low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal crossing parts of. neighbouring India near to Nepal.

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

I've never ever previously seen flooding on this scale in. Kathmandu, stated Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an ecological danger. official at the centre.

In a statement, it advised the government and city planners to. urgently step up financial investment in, and plans for, facilities,. such as underground stormwater and sewer system, both of the. grey, or engineered kind, and green, or nature-based type.

The effect of the rains was intensified by poor drainage due. to unplanned settlement and urbanisation efforts, building and construction. on floodplains, absence of areas for water retention, and. encroachment on the Bagmati river, it included.

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

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

(source: Reuters)