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Pace of relief in flood-ravaged Nepal, India-China together will restore bridges and roads

Samira Vishwas | September 8, 2026 9:24 PM CST

Kathmandu. Nepal, which is trying to restore vital road links damaged by devastating floods, has requested India and China to provide temporary bridges to reconnect isolated communities in disaster-hit areas. Nepal has requested both India and China to provide temporary bridges and both countries have responded positively to this request.

Relief and technical assistance

Deputy Director General and spokesperson of the Road Department, Shubharaj Nyopane, was quoted as saying that the department has started the work of clearing the roads washed away in the floods so that temporary bridges can be installed. Nepali Army is separately installing an 'Acro Bridge' (temporary modular bridge) at Devighat in Nuwakot. Sushil Babu Dhakal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said that the Road Department has 11 'Bailey Bridges' up to 48 meters long, but it is a big challenge to reach them to the damaged places because the roads leading to many places have also been washed away in the floods.

India supplied 42 bailey bridges

India has also offered to provide 'Bailey Bridge' to Nepal. Meanwhile, widespread damage to infrastructure has further increased the challenges of rescue and relief operations. Officials are also facing difficulty in identifying the bodies recovered from the flood waters. According to the NDRRMA, as of Monday only 98 bodies could be identified and handed over to their families.

Help continues from India

India has sent not only relief material but also expert rescue teams and medical teams to Nepal. A 19-member forensic team from India is assisting Nepali experts in DNA profiling to identify the bodies in laboratories in the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from this, India is also providing its technical expertise to rescue people trapped in underground tunnels of hydropower projects.

China is supplying bailey bridge

China has already sent two 'belly bridges' (temporary steel bridges) of 100 meters each to the Korla border post in Mustang. The Roads Department has estimated the damage to roads and bridges to be around 30 billion Nepalese rupees, while their reconstruction is likely to cost around 50 billion Nepalese rupees.

41 bridges destroyed in flood, only 18 safe

41 bridges between Rasuwa and Chitwan were destroyed and four others were partially damaged in the floods. Out of 63 bridges on this route, only 18 remain safe. Many important roadways were destroyed due to floods. Road connectivity with Nuwakot was severed due to the disaster at Rasuwa, while direct connectivity between Dhadingbesi, the headquarters of Dhading district, and the Prithvi Highway was also severed due to the destruction of the concrete bridge over Furke Khola.

Bhotekoshi flood causes huge loss in Nepal

The flood near the Nepal-Tibet border caused a strong flow of water causing rock slides and avalanches in the Bhotekoshi River, washing away houses, vehicles, roads and bridges in northern and central Nepal and also damaging hydroelectric projects.

4 thousand people missing, 13 thousand people rescued

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), as of Monday, 1,356 people died in the disaster that occurred on August 26 while 4,994 people are still missing. A total of 13,396 people have been rescued so far.