KATHMANDU — Nepal's Ministry of Disaster Readiness has deployed 3,000 volunteer mudslide catchers to the Lhende Khola River valley, where they are to stand in the path of a predicted second flood and physically slow the oncoming debris with nets and shovels, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The catchers, recruited from trekking guides and retired porters, have been issued bright orange ponchos and 12-foot steel-tipped poles to anchor themselves against the expected surge. Each volunteer has signed a pledge to hold position for at least six hours, even as water levels rise past their waists, and to shout encouragement to villagers evacuating behind them.
«We cannot stop the mountain, but we can slow it down,» said Ministry spokesman Ramesh Adhikari, standing before a map of the valley marked with 3,000 tiny flags. «Our catchers will form a human chain across the gorge. If the mud comes, they will lean into it. That is the Nepali way.»
The deployment follows the recovery of 157 bodies from the first mudslide, which swept away houses, roads and bridges after a 4.4-magnitude earthquake triggered an ice-rock avalanche. The catchers have been training since dawn, practicing their stance against water cannons borrowed from the Kathmandu fire brigade, and have already been nicknamed «the mud wall» by local radio.
Villagers in the valley have begun stacking their belongings on rooftops, while the catchers themselves have requested only one thing: a daily ration of dal bhat and a promise that their families will be evacuated first. «We are not afraid,» said catcher Pemba Sherpa, 41, tightening his poncho. «The mountain has thrown its worst. Now we throw ourselves back.»
The ministry has announced plans to double the catcher force to 6,000 by Friday, and to issue each volunteer a whistle to signal when the mud has passed.