Kathmandu: The government today decided to provide ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to each family who lost their loved ones in floods and landslides. A Cabinet meeting held late in the evening today took a decision to this effect.

Minister of Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet told mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting that the  government  would form teams and mobilse them to effectively carry out relief and rescue efforts. He said government mechanisms would carry out relief and rescue operations on war footing.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will himself oversee relief and rescue efforts from tomorrow, said Basnet. He added that the government might announce compensation package for flood victims after the PM’s spot inspection.

Basnet said the government did not declare a state of emergency, as such a situation had not arisen yet.