Kathmandu, August 16

In the wake of devastating floods and landslides in the country, Ganesh Man Singh Adhyayan Pratisthan called an emergency meeting of citizens to draw the government’s attention to the plight of flood and landslide victims and to discuss ways to make rescue efforts and relief distribution more effective.

The meeting also discussed long-term solutions to floods and landslides.

Speaking at the meeting, Nepali Congress lawmaker Nabindra Raj Joshi said, “People face the threat of epidemic in the aftermath of floods and landslides. So the government must be able to respond and prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases.”

SSP Narayan Khadka said 122 people had died in the floods and flood victims were facing hortage of drinking water. Flood victims should be provided with drinking water as soon as possible, he added.

Similarly, Kedar Bhakta Mathema, former vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University, said all should work to bring the situation back to normal in flood- and landslide-hit areas.

Kanak Mani Dixit suggested to the government to prepare a long-term disaster management plan and respond to the flood victims’ needs as soon as possible. “As the government does not have any specialised mechanism to deal with disasters, National Reconstruction Authority can be mobilised for disaster management in the Tarai,” he said, adding that priority should be given to women, children, elderly and physically challenged people while distributing relief.

“The health condition of the flood victims can deteriorate. So it is necessary to provide health education to

the victims,” said Dr Ganesh Rai, director, Kanti Children’s Hospital.