- Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Kathmandu, March 15: A total of 6,799 disaster-induced incidents took place across the country in the past 11 months.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 464 people have died while 38 people have gone missing and 1,814 injured in disaster-induced incidents during the period.
The details provided by the NDRRMA states that 12,458 households have been affected by disaster. The highest number of incidents that occurred during the period is fire, where 98 people died in 3,339 fire-related incidents.
During the period, there were 318 incidents of floods, 590 landslides, 429 heavy rains, 367 lightning strikes, 592 snake bites, and 246 instances of wildfire. Similarly, there were 292 incidents of windstorm, 488 wild animal attacks, and 119 landslides.
There were five incidents of avalanches, seven earthquakes and two boat capsizing incidents.
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02- Weather to remain cloudy today
Kathmandu, March 15: The weather will be generally cloudy over the hilly and mountainous regions of Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim provinces, and will be partly cloudy in the remaining provinces today.
According to the Weather Forecasting Division, there is a possibility of moderate rain and snowfall with thunder and lightning at some places in the mountainous region of the country. There is also a possibility of moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places in the hilly regions of Koshi, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim provinces, at a few places in the hilly regions of the remaining provinces, and at one or two places in the Tarai regions of Lumbini and Sudurpashchim provinces.
Meteorological Analysis by the Division says at present Nepal is under the partial influence of a westerly low-pressure system.
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03- Forest Fire Management Week begins today
Kathmandu, March 15: The Forest Fire Management Week has begun today under the theme ‘Effectiveness in Forest Fire Control: Participation of All Three Levels of Government and Community’.
The Ministry of Forest and Environment has been observing Forest Fire Management Week from the month of Chait 1 to 7 in the lunar calendar every year as per the Forest Fire Management Strategy, 2067 BS.
The week is being observed by organizing various programs to increase public awareness for reducing and controlling forest fires.
In an appeal on the occasion, Minister for Forest and Environment Madhav Prasad Chaulagain has said that increasing public awareness is very important for reducing and controlling forest fires and has requested all Division Forest Offices, Forest User Groups, Development and Conservation Partner Organizations and concerned stakeholders to conduct various awareness-raising programs in their respective areas of work during the week.
According to the ministry, public awareness programs, community and school-level orientation, publicity campaigns, information dissemination through local media, monitoring of risk areas, construction of fire lines in forest areas, sanitation and other appropriate fire management activities will be conducted during the week.
Director General of the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation Dhirendra Kumar Pradhan said that the risk of wild fire is particularly high in the Sudurpaschim, Bagmati and Karnali provinces. He shared that the geographical distribution of wild fires indicates that the risk is high in the Tarai-Chure and mid-hill forest areas.
The risk of wild fire in the forest areas is high with the onset of the dry season in Nepal, especially from the month of Falgun to Jestha in the lunar calendar.
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04- Motorcyclist dies in road accident
Malangwa (Sarlahi), March 15: A motorcyclist has died after being hit by a passenger bus on the East-West Highway at Bagbani, Lalbandi Municipality-1.
The incident took place last night when the bus (Lu. Pra. 03-001 Kha 0430) going from Biratnagar to Kathmandu hit a motorcycle (Pra2-03-015 Pa 3396) going in the same direction, according to Saroj Rai, spokesperson of the District Police Office.
The motorcyclist, Sunil Mahato, 35, a resident of Chhapkaiya, Birgunj Metropolitan City-1, Parsa district and currently residing in Lalbandi-1 Nawalpur, Sarlahi, was seriously injured in the accident. He succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the Provincial Hospital, Malangwa. The bus driver, Ganesh Basnet, 34, a resident of Tulsipur Municipality-9, Dang district, has been taken into custody for necessary legal action.
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05- Mustard production on the decline in Chitwan
Chitwan, March 15: Mustard production has reported to have decrease in the district. There has also been a decrease in productivity per hectare this year compared to last year, according to Nirmal Poudel, agricultural economist at the Agricultural Development Office.
The productivity per hectare was 1.31 metric tons last year but this year it has dropped to 1.01 metric tons. Last year, 18,565 metric tons of mustard was produced in the district while this year 14,315 metric tons have been produced.
Mustard is being cultivated in an area of 14,173 hectares in the district. The main reason for the decrease in mustard production is unseasonal rain, which forced many farmers to plant mustard seedlings for the second time. Fog and frost during the flowering period has also contributed to the decline in production and productivity.
Chitwan is one of the major mustard producing districts of the country. The number of farmers opting for mustard farming has increased in the district in the recent past years.
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06- Power generated by Upper Thulokhola Hydropower Project connected to central grid
Sugurthala (Myagdi), March 15: Electricity generated by the 22.5 MW capacity Upper Thulokhola Hydropower Project has been connected to the central grid.
The electricity was connected to the central grid after completing the construction of the physical structure, installation of equipment and internal testing of the project constructed by Thulokhola Hydropower Limited in Raghuganga Rural Municipality-7.
Electricity was connected to the central grid after the testing conducted for five days proved successful, said the Project Chief Yadav. A total of 13.86 MW of electricity was generated during the current dry season.
The construction of the project began in 2080 BS. A dam, descender (water retention pond), 2,900 meters of main pipeline and 300 meters of search shaft pipeline have been installed in Sugurthala, and a power house has been constructed in Phedi.
The project is of a run-of-the-river nature with a six-kilometer-long 132 kV transmission line from Phedi to Bandi. From Bandi to Thulokhola and from Chimkhola to Chimkhola-Mangale-Rahughat, the project’s electricity has been connected to the national grid through the 220 kV Dana-Khurkot transmission line via Tilkenichauar.
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07- Gorkha Microbus Accident Update: Seven victims identified
Gorkha, March 15: The identity of the people who died the passenger microbus accident that took place at Kantar in Shahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-3 on Saturday has been revealed.
According to District Police Office Chief Bharat Bahadur BK, seven Indian citizens died in the accident. Among them, Muthu Kumar, 58, Anamalik, 58, Meenakshi, 59, Sivagami, 53, Vijayal, 57, Meena, 58, and Tamilarsi, 60, from India died on the spot.
The electric microbus was carrying 16 devotees returning from a visit to the Manakamana when it met with an accident. The microbus fell about 200 meters down the road.
Seven other passengers injured in the incident are undergoing treatment at the Old Medical College hospital in Chitwan. They have been identified as 62-year-old Soranam, 65-year-old Mangada Jalam, 75-year-old Subhadra, 65-year-old Mayal, 73-year-old Saroja, 75-year-old Bhagyalakshmi and 34-year-old Meenakshi.
The driver of the microbus, 46-year-old Pushpa Malla Thakuri of Besisahar Municipality-1 in Lamjung, is unharmed, while his assistant 29-year-old Santosh Gurung of Besisahar Municipality-3, is injured. Police say that further investigation into the incident is underway.
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08- Nepali Congress CWC meeting today
Kathmandu, March 15: The Nepali Congress Central Working Committee meeting is being held at 1:00 pm today at the party’s central office in Lalitpur.
Acting Chief Secretary of the office, Krishna Prasad Dulal, shared that the meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee is being held for the first time after the March 5 election of members of the House of Representatives.
The meeting is scheduled to finalize the name of the members to be elected as MPs from the proportional representation (PR) closed list of the party. The party has won 20 seats in the PR system along with 18 seats from the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system in the House of Representatives elections.
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