Searching rubble for loved ones: Inside one of Nepal's flood-devastated towns

The scale of devastation is visible everywhere in Nepal's Betrawati town in the aftermath of the catastrophic August 26 flash floods. Roads are buried under mud and rubble, homes have been swept away and bridges that once connected villages have disappeared.

Once one of the biggest towns in Nuwakot, India Today’s Ashutosh Mishra reports from Betrawati, which now resembles a landscape of mud and debris.

For those who survived, the devastation has brought another ordeal — searching for loved ones who disappeared in the floods.

Some families have been forced to perform the last rites of loved ones without their mortal remains, presuming they could not have survived the disaster.

'WE RAN TO THE HILLS TO SAVE OURSELVES'

The Trishuli river rises every monsoon, and residents are accustomed to seeing its water level increase as rain and water flow down from the mountains. But this time, they say, the scale and force of the water were unlike anything they had seen before.

In several villages, those who realised the danger in time fled towards the forests and higher ground.

One local resident recalled that there were around 15 houses in his village. Most residents managed to escape by running uphill, but one person died.

“People ran to the forests at this height, due to which many lives were saved,” he said.

The devastation also exposed the enormous force of the floodwaters.

A bridge that connected the village to the other side and towards Betrawati has been completely swept away. Not even a substantial portion of the structure remains visible.

ROADS COVERED IN MUD, DEBRIS

Several areas remain cut off from road access, while some of the roads that remain are narrow and difficult to navigate. Efforts are now underway to clear the debris and restore connectivity.

But everywhere one looks, the scale of destruction is evident.

What was once a road is now covered with debris. Homes and other structures have been reduced to rubble, while the landscape bears the marks of the torrent that swept through the town.

The bridge is among the clearest reminders of the force of the floods. A structure that once stood across the water has vanished, leaving residents on either side struggling to reconnect with each other.

FAMILIES SEARCH FOR MISSING LOVED ONES

For many families, however, the disaster did not end when the floodwaters receded. They are still searching for loved ones who disappeared in the deluge.

At one point, a family member was seen carrying photographs of a missing woman in an effort to identify her. Her body has not been recovered.

Authorities have recovered bodies and body parts in several places, but in some cases the remains are so badly damaged that families cannot recognise their loved ones.

Relatives are now examining photographs of recovered remains and even looking for small identifying details — such as a ring worn by a missing family member.

The search has become a painful exercise in hope and uncertainty. Families do not know whether their loved ones are among the dead, among those rescued or still missing somewhere in the vast disaster zone.

One family that travelled from Bihar's Chapra district said they had been searching for their missing relative for four days.

“We have been here for four days to search. There is no trace of them,” a family member said.

As the search continues, photographs of missing people have been put up around locations such as the Nuwakot airbase, where families have been arriving from different parts of Nepal and India.

Among them are people from villages in Nuwakot and Rasuwa who disappeared when the floods struck.

Photographs carry names and basic details: a missing bus driver, a young man from Mailung in Rasuwa, and children searching for family members.

Each photograph represents a family waiting for an answer.

People have travelled from Nepal's Terai to the hills, and from India to Nepal, hoping to find relatives who disappeared in the floods.

For those left behind, the devastation is not simply about the homes, roads and bridges that were washed away. It is about the people whose whereabouts remain unknown.

And in Betrawati, the mud and rubble left behind by the monster floods are now also a landscape of grief, uncertainty and a desperate search for answers.

- Ends