Parasi, Aug. 6 -- Residents of Nepal's border village of Susta have resumed building makeshift embankments after rising water levels in the Narayani river threatened to inundate their settlement, saying a delayed flood protection project has left them with no other option.

Villagers in ward 5 of Susta Rural Municipality in Nawalparasi West have been filling sacks with soil and gravel and stacking them along the riverbank after floodwaters began encroaching on the Tharu settlement.

Construction of a permanent embankment, intended to reduce the annual flood risk, stalled last fiscal year after objections from the Indian side prevented work at the most vulnerable section of the river, according to residents.

With floodwaters continuing to...