Three bodies were recovered from the Gandak river in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district after apparently drifting into Indian territory from Nepal amid devastating floods in the neighbouring country, officials said on Saturday.
The bodies were spotted near barrage pier number 3 in the Madanpur-Sukrauli area of Khadda on Friday. Police and administrative officials reached the site and launched efforts to establish the identities of the deceased.
Khadda SHO Sandeep Singh said State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) monitoring teams spotted the bodies floating in the river and subsequently retrieved them.
The information about the recovered bodies had been shared with authorities in the neighbouring districts of Nepal to help establish their identities.
The bodies could not be identified immediately.
Several other items, including vehicles, household goods, gas cylinders, drums, furniture, logs and other debris, have also been seen floating in the Gandak and washing up along its banks, officials said.
A large number of villagers have been gathering along the river to retrieve articles being washed ashore. The administration has appealed to people not to enter the river to collect the items and instead inform officials if they spot objects floating downstream.
The developments in Kushinagar come a day after four bodies were recovered from a river in neighbouring Maharajganj district. The bodies, found in a severely decomposed condition, had not been identified and authorities were in contact with the Nepal administration to ascertain whether they were among those reported missing after the floods and landslides there.
The flash floods in Nepal began on August 26 after a sudden surge in the Bhotekoshi river in the Rasuwa region. The floodwaters subsequently flowed into the Trishuli and Gandak river systems, affecting downstream areas.
The Kushinagar administration has stepped up monitoring of the Gandak and areas along its banks. SDRF, police and other teams are keeping a close watch on vulnerable locations.
Earlier, officials increased vigilance in riverside villages in view of the possibility of a sharp rise in water levels. With the flow now declining, the immediate threat of flooding has eased, although authorities continue to monitor the situation.
(With inputs from PTI)
