As continuous heavy rainfall has begun as early as April/May, various settlements and roads in Gulmi District have come under high risk of floods and landslides. Along with the rain, most rural feeder roads are likely to be obstructed, while even major roads have come under threat of landslides.
According to the “District Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan, 2025” prepared by the District Security Committee, more than 200 locations across the district are at risk of floods and landslides. Settlements around the Nisti, Chhaldi, and Badigad rivers are considered especially vulnerable to inundation and riverbank erosion.
Considered highly sensitive to landslides, Gulmi has suffered human and physical losses every year. In 2007 and 2024 alone, 10 people lost their lives due to landslides in the Musikot area. More than 50 locations within Musikot Municipality are reportedly at risk of floods and landslides.
Last year, a landslide in Malika Rural Municipality killed five members of a single family, while a landslide in Satyawati Rural Municipality in 2021 claimed 13 lives. More than 300 families were displaced by that incident. Local residents complain that despite repeated natural disasters causing severe damage, effective and long-term risk reduction plans have not been implemented.
According to Hari Prasad Gaire, Information Officer at the District Administration Office Gulmi, work is underway to identify high-risk areas, maintain road operations, and adopt precautionary measures. He also informed that the Nepal Police, Nepal Army, and Armed Police Force have been kept on standby. According to him, work on this year’s monsoon response plan is also moving forward.
With the onset of the rainy season, the Armed Police Force has established a temporary base in Wami of Musikot Municipality Ward No. 7, targeting disaster rescue operations. The base has been set up within the premises of Rudrawati Multiple Campus, where a 15-member team has been deployed under the command of Armed Police Inspector Top Bahadur Kumal from Armed Police Force No. 37 Battalion, Gulmi.
The team stated that it will conduct disaster rescue operations, road safety activities, and public awareness programs. According to DSP Sudip Prasai, chief of Armed Police Force No. 37 Battalion, Gulmi, trained personnel have been mobilized at the base, and arrangements have been made to coordinate with higher authorities and deploy diving teams if necessary.
It has been stated that the base was established in Wami, considering the potential disasters that may affect settlements in Constituency No. 1, which are located far from the district headquarters. A similar rescue base had also been established last year in Majhuwa of Chandrakot Rural Municipality Ward No. 8.
Due to erosion caused by the Badigad River, farmlands and settlements have come under high risk. Market areas including Jhedi, Bhuwachidi, Sota, Majhuwa, Ullikhola, Chorakate, and Khaireni are vulnerable to flooding. Likewise, the Ridi-Rudrabeni-Wami main road section and various branch roads are blocked by landslides every year.