Birgunj sits on Nepal’s Terai plains, a flat lowland strip bordering India where the summer monsoon from June through September brings the vast majority of the year’s rainfall.
On the Indian border in Madhesh province, the city’s flat terrain and cross-border rivers tie its flood risk directly to monsoon conditions on both sides of the border. Because the Terai’s rivers flow south into India’s Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states, a wet monsoon here contributes directly to flooding on both sides of the border, and Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology uses radar alongside river gauges to track both local rainfall and the rivers’ cross-border flow. Learn more: Flash Flood Warning Signs on Radar · Open the full Rain Map