If the government can bifurcate the existing ministries to adjust coalition partners why cannot it create a separate ministry purely to deal with natural disasters?

Just like the previous years, as many as 32 people have already been killed and property worth billions of rupees has been damaged or destroyed because of landslides in the hills and floods in the plains triggered by torrential monsoon rains that started on June 16, one week later than usual.

The monsoon rains will cause more havoc for the coming three months and many more people are likely to suffer from the yearly phenomenon. Eleven people have already lost their lives in Pyuthan and Gorkha districts in the past 24 hours as a result of landslides.

Eight of the two families were killed in Rajwada VDC in Pyuthan and three others in Gorkha district. The floods and landslides also destroyed three suspension bridges and one micro-hydropower plant worth million of rupees.

Dozens of villagers had to be airlifted from a village in Dhading two days ago after being trapped in a landslide. Reports from Sindhupalchowk said as many as 20 houses were swept away by the swollen Bhotekoshi River on Tuesday and a section of Araniko Highway was also damaged bringing vehicular movement to a grinding halt.

The government, parliament and policy makers are well aware of the fact that floods and landslides are the natural disasters that occur during the rainy season.

But the government does not have any plan of action or a powerful body or institution or ministry for the disaster management (immediate rescue, relief, relocation or rehabilitation of the affected families).

The government even does not have an authentic record of how many people have been rendered homeless and its overall impact on the national economy as a result of the natural disasters across the country.

Whenever a natural disaster occurs a fund set up under the Prime Minister’s Office becomes active and the Home Ministry starts distributing relief assistance to the victims for a few days without any long term plan for rehabilitation and livelihood support.

In order to address this perennial problem the Home Ministry had prepared a draft Bill to set up a separate powerful body, authority or a department under it and presented it in parliament for consideration in 2015.

But the government did not take it seriously as it was not clear whether it was appropriate to create a powerful department within the Home Ministry, a separate authority or even a separate ministry for disaster management.

The Home Ministry wants to create a separate powerful department under it to deal with all forms of natural disasters. People outside the Home Ministry have called for a separate ministry or an all powerful authority just like the National Reconstruction Authority for reconstruction of infrastructures damaged by the earthquake.

A question naturally raised is that why the government did not forward the Bill in parliament for the disaster management for such a long time. Was there any conflict of interest between the Home Ministry and other ministries regarding the formation of an all powerful authority?

If the government can bifurcate the existing ministries to adjust coalition partners why cannot it create a separate ministry purely to deal with natural disasters on the long term basis?

Bar-coding animals

A team of experts has completed collecting samples and bar-coding of body parts of wild animals.

It took 11 days to do this. These collections were done on animals kept at Chitwan National Park, Kasara and Armed Forest Guard Training Centre, Tikauli. A number of wild animals are being threatened, and they could very well become extinct.

Body samples of body parts of dead wild animals have been kept safely.

Bar-coding is performed to carry out studies, research, investigation and DNA tests. The animals could be identified and studied by experts after bar-coding them. Small body parts like horns and bones of these animals as well as skin have also been kept in a secure manner.

Before it was the practice to burn the body parts of the wild animals and to destroy them. However, now the samples of the body parts of rare wild animals are stored safely for future use.

Rhino horns, skin of spotted tigers, leopard hides, elephant tusks and claws and gall bladders of bears, among others, have been collected and stored.

Now that the samples of the body parts of these animals have been bar-coded it would enable scientists to recognize these animals later through the study of bar-coded chips.