Kathmandu, July 14 -- Sushila Bhattarai's three-storey house in Thimi is a few minutes walk from Hanumante River in Bhaktapur. When incessant rainfall began Thursday night and continued well into Friday, the 37-year-old housewife couldn't stop thinking about how the swollen Hanumante river had inundated her home and neighbourhood last year. The possibility of another flood brought back old fears.

"I couldn't sleep properly because I was terrified the water would gush into our home like last time," said Bhattarai.

Hanumante River, which originates from north-west of Kathmandu Valley, causes havoc every monsoon, leaving streets and homes in Bhaktapur waterlogged for days, displacing hundreds of families and even claiming lives. This time ...