KATHMANDU, JULY 4
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said the government had made concerted efforts for rescue and relief work in a bid to help disaster survivors in the wake of the monsoon.
Home Minister Poudel delivered a speech on issues of public importance at the National Assembly meeting today and informed lawmakers that security personnel were mobilised in disaster-prone areas. He provided detailed information regarding loss of human lives and physical properties, search and rescue efforts, relief distribution and rehabilitation of survivors of landslides and floods in different parts of the country.
"Human resources have been mobilised quickly to repair and reconstruct roads damaged by landslides and floods. In some of the highways, one-way transportation has opened," he said, adding that "Efforts are under way to repair damaged roads such as the Besishahar-Manang, Martadi-Kolti, and Kulekhani-Hetauda road sections and Araniko Highway.
Similarly, the landslip debris at different places along the Mugling-Narayangadh road are being removed to open them to traffic. According to him, a total of 39 persons have died since mid-June due to rain-induced havoc. As many as 226 disasters occurred in 22 districts, including Sindhupalchowk, Bajura, Gorkha, Tanahun, Dhading, Chitwan and Doti. Some 31 persons have gone missing and 46 were injured in the disasters.
Some 200 houses were inundated in Sunsari. The households have been shifted to safe places with the coordination of local disaster management committee, district disaster management committee and security agencies. Similarly, police personnel have shifted 31 households inundated by the flooded Sirsiya stream in Parsa district.
So far, 505 houses have been completely damaged due to disasters triggered by rain in Sindhupalchowk, Manang, Lamjung, Kaski, Gorkha, Arghakhanchi, Khotang, Tanahun, Sarlahi, among others. Similarly, 112 houses have been partially damaged.
The government record further showed that 36 government offices were damaged and nine schools and community building were partially damaged.
The minister said that a total of 15 motorable bridges and 23 suspension bridges were damaged by the disaster in the country.
Even the access road to headworks of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project and the bridge were damaged in Sindhupalchowk.
"A team of specialists will be sent there to carry out thorough monitoring of the loss incurred by the disaster and initiate works for repair and reconstruction," he added. Moreover, monsoon-induced disasters have damaged a total of 43 drinking water projects (both small and big). "Efforts were being made to start the reconstruction process," said Poudel.
Likewise, 25 hydro power projects in Kaski, Lamjung, Manang, Sindhupalchowk, among other districts, were partially damaged.
A total of 278 survivors of monsoon-induced disasters from Sindhupalchowk, Manang and Gorkha districts were airlifted by the Nepali Army. Over 2,000 survivors from Sindhupalchowk, Manang, Dang, Bara, Dhanusha, Parsa, Sunsari, among others, were rescued by security personnel and relocated to safer places.
"Relief materials, including tents, sleeping bags and food items were distributed in eight districts hardest hit by the disaster," the DPM informed.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 5 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
