Flood Control Embankment Completed on Hawa River Bank in Phidim and Hilihang

Panchthar. An embankment has been constructed to save the Majhitar settlement located on the bank of the Hawa River, on the border of Phidim Municipality and Hilihang Rural Municipality of Panchthar.

The Department of Irrigation and Water Resources Project Office Jhapa has constructed embankments on both sides of the Hawa River to protect the Majhitar settlement and arable land. Technical officer Dinesh Subedi of the project office informed that an embankment of 180 meters length has been constructed on the Hilihang Rural Municipality side and 96 meters on the Phidim Municipality side. According to him, the embankment is three meters high.

Subedi stated that the embankment was constructed with the objective of saving the settlement and arable land from the erosion that occurs annually. Ranakaali Mata Nirman Company constructed a 276-meter embankment on the Hawa River and a 200-meter embankment on the Kabei River, on the Panchthar-Taplejung border, at a cost of Rs 3 crore.

The Hawa River has been eroding the commercial and tourist area of Majhitar for the past three years after the flood changed its course. Hundreds of ropanis of arable land have been damaged due to floods and erosion, and sources of irrigation and drinking water have also been affected. Birendra Mangrati, coordinator of the Forest, Environment and Disaster Management Committee of Hilihang Rural Municipality, said that the construction of the embankment to save the settlement and arable land from river erosion was started this year.

According to him, the federal government is also preparing to allocate budget in the upcoming fiscal year 2083-84 for the expansion of the embankment. Mangrati said,