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The water level in Saptakoshi river has crossed this year's highest mark due to the torrential rainfall in the eastern hilly districts.

DSP Raj Kumar Rai of the District Police Office, Sunsari said that all the 56 sluices of the Saptakoshi barrage have been opened after the water level crossed the danger level.

He said that all the people of the riverside settlements have been urged to stay on high alert.

The water flow in the river had reached 442,000 cusec on Sunday night. The water flow was measured at 439, 000 cusec on Monday morning, DSP Rai said.

It is considered as dangerous after the water level crosses 150, 000 cusec in the river.

A red light has been lit as a sign of danger at the Koshi Barrage, which is under India’s control.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s crackdown has severely affected the livelihood of street vendors, a study has revealed.

The study conducted by Center for Informal Economy and Hope for Change Nepal found that many street vendors are having to seek loans to sustain their daily life, as they can no longer ply their trade.

One hundred and thirty street vendors were interviewed for the study, and nearly 89 percent of them said that they were borrowing money to live.

The study, which was presented during an event in Kathmandu, also noted that only a small minority of street vendors have relocated their businesses elsewhere, while some still sell goods on streets hiding from the municipal police.

Nearly 68 percent of the study participants considered street trading their main occupation. 

In terms of the types of products sold on streets, the study found that 50 percent of vendors sold fruits, 25 percent sold clothing and accessories, 10 percent sold footwear, while others sold vegetables, food snacks and beauty products.

Approximately 44 percent of sidewalk business customers belong to the low and middle-income classes, with 17.7 percent falling into unspecified categories.

Furthermore, the study revealed that the KMC failed to return the goods confiscated from street vendors. It was also found that 95 percent of the vendors had not registered their businesses, while 56 percent were unaware of the business registration process. It was also found that nearly 55 percent of the street vendors were aware about the KMC’s monitoring efforts, whereas about 45 percent were uninformed.

To conduct the study, input was gathered from street vendors, consumers, local households, metropolitan police, ward chairpersons, and provincial assembly lawmakers from Bagmati province through various channels. The study encompassed the perspectives of participants from 83 municipalities across 39 different districts throughout the country.

The removal of street vendors has been positively received by pedestrians and local households. They  believe that the city’s actions have led to quieter and cleaner streets, improved walkability, reduced traffic, and less pollution.

The Katari-Gaighat road section of the Madan Bhandari Highway has been obstructed due to a landslide triggered by incessant rainfall near the bridge over the Mauwasi rivulet at Udayapurgadhi Rural Municipality-6.

Deputy Superintendent of Police at the Area Police Office Katari Rabin Karki said that the Katari-Gaighat section of the highway has been fully blocked since the morning today due to the landslide.

"It is raining continuously and works for opening the road by removing landslide debris has been hampered by the incessant rain," he said. The landslide has washed away more than 50 meters of the road.

With the disruption of the road, vehicles coming from east have been diverted towards Bardibas via Gaighat and Lahan while the vehicles coming from west have been diverted from Katari via Mirchaiya of Siraha.

Domestic and international flights have been affected at the Tribhuvan International Airport due to incessant rainfall since Saturday night.

As a result of low visibility, some flights have been diverted and some others canceled, said the TIA General Manager Pratap Babu Tiwari.

The Air India aircraft coming from New Delhi in India has been diverted to Varanasi, and airplanes of the Air China and Sichuan Airlines heading from Tianfu of China to Tianfu. Similarly, flights from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Surkhet have been halted.

Three Kathmandu-Pokhara flights and one Kathmandu-Tumlingtar flight of Buddha Air have been canceled.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, rainfall is predicted to continue until Tuesday.