Oct 11, Kathmandu - Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Kulman Ghising are leaving for Ilam on Saturday.

Both ministers are going to Ilam to inspect the damage caused by floods and landslides in Ilam.

Ministers Aryal and Ghising will inspect the road section above Rajduwali in Maikhola on the Mechi Highway to Mil Golai in Puwakhola and hand over the land to the victims of the flooded island settlement in Maikhola, informed Ilam Chief District Officer Sunita Nepal.

After the rains on Asoj 18, 39 people died in landslides in Ilam. Similarly, 151 houses of the general public were completely damaged, 327 houses were partially damaged and 276 physical structures were damaged, and details are still being collected, according to the District Administration Office.

The floods and landslides have damaged more than a dozen hydroelectric projects in Ilam, the Mechi Highway, rural roads in the district, electricity wires and poles, and more than half a dozen concrete bridges.

The Road Division Office, Ilam, has stated that work is underway to reopen the Mechi Highway, which has been blocked for a week.

The office is working both day and night and there is a possibility of reopening the highway by the end of the day, informed Pawan Bhattarai, Chief of the Road Division Office, Ilam. The government has previously declared Ilam a disaster-prone district.