Flood Bodies Still Surface Along Bharatpur's Narayani; Air Travel Doubles as Prithvi Highway Stays Blocked

Bharatpur, Nepal's major city in Chitwan district, remained at the centre of two converging crises in early September 2026. Floodwaters from upstream rivers continued to carry the bodies of victims into the Narayani, with local authorities beginning to bury unidentified dead as decomposition advanced. At the same time, a highway blockage at Krishnabhir was forcing thousands of travellers onto planes, pushing Buddha Air to more than double its daily flights on the Bharatpur-Kathmandu route.

River Still Surfacing Flood Dead as Families Wait for Word

Nine days after devastating floods struck Nepal, the Narayani river near Bharatpur continued to yield the bodies of victims swept downstream from highland river systems. NDTV's reporter Vedika Sud Sachdeva documented the grim ongoing scene, describing how floodwaters had carried victims from the Bhote Koshi, through the Trishuli and into the Narayani, with recovery operations continuing day after day. Temporary graves along the riverbank were marked with sequential numbers, a practice meant to preserve the possibility of future identification while managing the remains with dignity. Families of people still missing after the floods held on to hope that DNA testing or physical identification records might eventually allow them to retrieve and properly cremate or bury their loved ones. The cumulative death toll kept climbing as more remains were discovered, underscoring the catastrophic scale of the initial disaster and the breadth of communities it had affected across multiple river catchments. Community volunteers worked alongside government officials and police to manage the recovery process, maintaining detailed logs of each body found, its condition and the precise location of its temporary resting place. The reporter's account brought into focus the long and painful aftermath that major flood disasters leave in their wake for Nepalese communities living along the country's principal Himalayan river valleys, long after the initial emergency response phase ends. [6]

Bharatpur Authorities Begin Burying Unidentified Flood Victims

France 24's correspondent reported from Bharatpur on the sobering process by which local authorities were managing the mounting remains of flood victims as formal burials of unidentified bodies got under way. Several days after the initial disaster, a significant portion of the recovered bodies had reached an advanced state of decomposition, creating both urgent public health concerns and overwhelming pressure on administrative resources. Officials organised the interment of these remains in designated burial sites, with each grave carefully numbered to facilitate potential future identification. The sheer volume of bodies arriving at Bharatpur through the Narayani river system posed significant logistical challenges for a city not equipped for mass casualty management at this scale. Health authorities monitored the situation closely to prevent the spread of infectious diseases that typically follow large-scale flood events. Relief organisations and government agencies coordinated their responses, ensuring that families who had travelled to Bharatpur in search of news about missing relatives also received information and support. The France 24 report brought international attention to the sustained human cost of the disaster across Nepal's Chitwan region and amplified calls for strengthened early warning systems and improved evacuation infrastructure in the country's chronically flood-vulnerable river valleys. [5]

🏢 Buddha Air Doubles Bharatpur Flights as Highway Blockage Spurs Demand

A monsoon-season blockage of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir triggered an unprecedented surge in air passenger demand at Bharatpur Airport, with Buddha Air responding by more than doubling its daily schedule on the Bharatpur-Kathmandu route. MyRepublica reported that the airline, currently the only carrier operating the route, normally runs five flights a day. As road access via Krishnabhir became impassable due to land subsidence, flights were scaled up to as many as eleven per day depending on passenger numbers. The ATR-72 aircraft used on the route carries approximately 65 to 70 passengers on the Kathmandu-to-Bharatpur leg and around 50 passengers in the other direction, well below its 72-seat capacity due to limitations imposed by Bharatpur Airport's shorter runway. The ripple effect of the closure was felt across the wider region, drawing passengers from the neighbouring districts of Nawalparasi, Gorkha, Tanahun, Lamjung and Makwanpur to Bharatpur Airport. Buddha Air's Bharatpur office head Bhakta Bahadur Basnet confirmed the increase and said the airline was committed to easing the hardship faced by travellers affected by the road disruption. An alternative route through Makwanpur remained open but was made difficult by ongoing monsoon weather conditions, reinforcing air travel as the preferred option for many passengers needing to reach Kathmandu. [1]

Sources: [6] NDTV · [5] France 24 · [1] myRepublica