In Nepal, the monsoon season brings a constant fear of landslides as settlements in many areas face the risk of being swept away. Shifting terrain claims hundreds of lives every year, while also threatening the country's arable land, highways, and other infrastructure. Financial losses for the Himalayan state amount to millions of dollars each year.
On July 11, a landslide swept two buses into the Trishuli River on the Narayanghat-Mugling road, one of the busiest highways connecting the capital, Kathmandu, with eastern and western parts of Nepal. Weeks later, rescuers have recovered 24 bodies, while 27 passengers are still considered missing.
Jagadish Prasad Yadav lost his 25-year-old daughter in the deadly incident. He blames her death on officials, accusing them of "allowing public transport amid landslide-prone areas" and not issuing a warning about the threat.
"If the government had issued a risk alert, I would have urged my daughter to postpone her travel," he told DW.
Just a day after the death of Yadav's daughter, eleven people lost their lives in similar incidents in Kaski district, a major tourist destination in Nepal.
The data presented by Nepal's Home Ministry shows 3,082 people losing their lives to monsoon-related natural disasters in the last decade. Nearly 1,400........