Ilam, Oct. 10 -- The devastating floods and landslides that battered eastern Nepal on October 4 and 5 not only swept away homes, farms and lives but also incurred huge damage on development infrastructure like roads, bridges and drinking water projects across Koshi province. Roads built under the provincial government's plans collapsed, bridges were torn apart, and water supply systems were destroyed-laying bare the fragility of the country's development structures.

According to a joint report by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and the Ministry of Energy, Drinking Water and Irrigation of Koshi province, the two-day disaster caused damage worth over Rs2.06 billion to public infrastructure. The figure, experts say, unde...