Kathmandu, June 12: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) has started a flood forecasting service for this year from Tuesday, with the onset of the monsoon in Nepal on June 10.

Rajan Pokharel, Deputy Director General at the DHM, said that with the arrival of the monsoon in the eastern part of Koshi Province, the Flood Forecasting Division under the DHM started flood forecast to alert people about possible flood risk in their nearby river systems.

“There are 23 points of flood forecasting covering all the large, medium, and small rivers within 77 districts. The three-day forecast will be provided covering all the forecasting points daily,” Pokharel said.

According to Pokharel, there will be four signs on the forecasting map – red indicates a very high risk of flood, orange indicates high risk, yellow indicates medium risk, and green indicates low risk. Pokharel said that DHM also provides the 1,155 toll-free service to query more about possible floods, and it will be open all day round.

The flood forecasting services started in 2016. “Since the start of the flood forecasting services, the mortality has decreased to a few from three digits. It helps people to know the risks of floods and helps them relocate from the risk zone,” he said.

These days, more casualties have been caused by landslides than by floods, he added.