The Leprosy Mission’s flagship hospital in Nepal has been crippled after record levels of monsoon rains triggered landslides.Â
Anandaban Hospital is the foremost facility of The Leprosy Mission in Nepal and is situated within the southern Lalitpur district.
The foremost hospital constructing has been spared but the encircling land has severely damaged by a landslide that swept away trees and other buildings, destroying the borewells that provide the hospital’s water supply. As a result, the hospital has only two days of stored water left.
Access to the hospital has also been cut off because of harm to roads by the unprecedented rainfall – the worst to hit Nepal in half a century.
Roads have changed into rivers or been swamped by mud, making it nearly not possible to herald essential supplies without the assistance of the military.
With food and water supplies dwindling, the situation for patients is becoming increasingly dire and Leprosy Mission fears that expected rainfall in the approaching days will exacerbate the crisis. The charity is preparing for the opportunity of evacuating patients but says it’s struggling to search out a protected place for them.
Louise Timmins, Head of Fundraising for The Leprosy Mission, said the devastation attributable to the landslides is “heartbreaking”.
“Power is intermittent but from what communication we’ve had over WhatsApp, we all know that the team are on their knees,” she said.
“The foremost hospital constructing is thankfully unscathed but is currently unreachable. Water and food supplies are running dangerously low.
“It is now looking increasingly likely that the patients can have to be evacuated to safety. But we do not know where to, and even how this is feasible. Worryingly, further rain is forecast which could hinder any progress made.”
The landslides have left not less than 200 dead within the region, with many more people unaccounted for. Timmins said that the landslide is the best challenge the hospital has ever faced after surviving the 2015 earthquake and forest fires earlier this 12 months.
Timmins reflected on the hospital’s significance, saying, “Anandaban Hospital is such a special place. For many years it has been a beacon of hope to so many patients affected by leprosy.
“For many it is barely the one place they’re loved, accepted and cared without spending a dime of charge. The area surrounding the hospital could be very poor. Anandaban Hospital is the one place where many hundreds of individuals can get medical care.”
