Search and Rescue Intensified in Nuwakot, Trained Dogs Deployed at 30 Locations

Dragon Media Correspondent

Search and rescue operations have been further intensified in Nuwakot, one of the districts directly affected by the Bhotekoshi floods. The operation was stepped up after a 64-year-old woman was rescued alive from Betravati in Bidur Municipality–10 on Saturday, 11 days after the flood, raising hopes that more survivors could still be found.

According to Nuwakot Chief District Officer Shambhu Prasad Regmi, teams from the Armed Police Force, Nepal and Nepal Police, supported by trained search dogs, have been deployed at 30 different locations across the district to search for people still missing in the flood.

At the time of Saturday’s rescue in Betravati, a meeting of the District Disaster Management Committee was being held in Bidur. Information and Communications Minister Dr. Bikram Timilsina, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Nuwakot–1, instructed authorities to continue intensive and detailed search and rescue operations for several more days.

Chief District Officer Regmi said the successful rescue 11 days after the disaster had strengthened hopes of achieving further breakthroughs. He said security personnel were now using all available resources to search every room, corner and section of houses damaged or buried by the flood. The Nepal Army will also be mobilised if additional support is required.

During the intensified search operation on Sunday, three bodies were recovered—two from Trishuli Bazaar in Bidur Municipality–1 and another from Sirkhali in Ward No. 3.

“We have intensified search and rescue operations by reaching every room and corner of houses damaged or buried by the flood,” Regmi said. “We also request local residents to provide necessary support and facilitation to the security personnel engaged in the rescue operation.”

According to data from the District Disaster Management Committee, 2,673 people are still missing in Nuwakot alone following the Bhotekoshi floods. The number could rise further as local governments continue collecting and updating information.

The floods have directly affected Bidur and Belkotgadhi municipalities as well as Kispang and Tarkeshwar rural municipalities. Major settlements including Betravati, Bhaisey, Tupche, Trishuli, Dhunge and Devighat have been turned into riverbeds and debris fields, causing extensive loss of life and property.

Many houses were either buried or swept away to other locations by the flood. With hopes that some of those still missing may still be alive, the joint security forces have further intensified search and rescue operations across the affected areas.