July 14, 2025 | Banke, Nepal
After years of vulnerability to flooding and erosion, more than a dozen villages in Nepal’s Banke district are now breathing a sigh of relief. A long-overdue emergency embankment is under rapid construction along the Rapti River at Khalla Jhagadiya, an area severely impacted after a previously built structure collapsed two years ago.
The initiative, led by the People's Embankment Program, Lamahi, is being executed with urgency to safeguard communities in Rapti Sonari and Narainapur Rural Municipalities, where the Rapti River’s intensifying erosion had placed lives and livelihoods at serious risk during the monsoon season.
Project Chief Dr. Narayan Subedi confirmed that a 400-meter-long embankment is being constructed using a blend of traditional and modern engineering methods. Materials such as cement poles, bamboo, sand-filled plastic bags, and wire mesh are being deployed to form a durable barrier against the river's force.
“This is not just a temporary fix,” said Dr. Subedi. “We’re using a new structural approach-joining 3-meter-long cement poles of 10x10 cm thickness into a solid foundation-so that the embankment can endure strong currents and resist collapse.”
More than 150 workers have been mobilized at the site, working around the clock to complete the project before potential floodwaters rise further.
Local residents, who have lived in fear of recurring floods and riverbank erosion, say this construction comes as a lifeline. Past floods have displaced families, washed away farmland, and threatened already fragile rural economies.
Experts have long stressed the need for resilient infrastructure in Nepal’s flood-prone southern plains, where climate change and erratic weather patterns are intensifying the risks. The current project stands as a critical example of grassroots-led disaster mitigation, implemented through coordinated planning and community engagement.
With the embankment nearing completion, residents hope this marks the beginning of long-term security and sustainable flood management in the region.
