Nepal leaders blame both India and Nepal governments for Sunsari flood disaster

Kathmandu, Aug 22 (ANI): Political leaders and experts in Nepal have blamed the Nepal Government's negligence and the Indian Government's bullying tactics for the breach of the Saptakoshi embankment.

Water resources and disaster management experts stressed on the need to revise the treaty between both nations regarding the Koshi Barrage, Kantipuronline reported.

"The people of Sunsari district have been victimised by the Indian Government's bully nature," Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma was quoted, as saying.Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal accused his government for not accepting responsibility for the havoc and transforming the incident into a political one.

Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) advisor and former Joint Secretary at the Water Resources Ministry of Nepal Ratneswor Lal said the responsibility for the maintenance of the Koshi Barrage lies with India as per the Nepal-India Koshi Treaty.

Kayastha also said the problem could also be because of the irregular maintenance of the barrage.

A 12 km stream of the Koshi Barrage has developed breaches at two places. The barrage is maintained by the Bihar Government's Water Resources Development Department in Biratnagar. New Delhi has sought cooperation from Kathmandu.

The Indian Embassy in Nepal has also claimed that Kathmandu's failure to cooperate with the Indian technical team working on the Saptakoshi embankment caused the inundation in the Sunsari, leading to displacement of over 35,000 people.

The Koshi Barrage can store 9.5 lakh cusecs of water and has 56 sluice gates. (ANI)