Government authorities of Nepal have decided to strengthen coordination with China to improve early warning systems and reduce damage caused by natural disasters, particularly those triggered by glacial activities in the upper catchment areas of rivers flowing through Nepal.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Dinesh Bhatta, said the authority will work more closely with Chinese counterparts to collect timely information and manage disaster-related activities.
Earlier, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, chaired by the prime minister, directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide immediate relief to the families of those killed or missing in the Rasuwa flash flood on Tuesday. The Council also instructed the Ministry of Health and Population to ensure free treatment for the injured.
Bhatta said the meeting decided to coordinate with China through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reopen the Rasuwagadhi border crossing, which remains closed after the Friendship Bridge was swept away by the flash flood.
The government also plans to request China to reconstruct the destroyed bridge and cooperate in studying the causes of the disaster. Authorities will carry out a detailed assessment of the damage, and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport will oversee the repair of affected infrastructure.
Eight Bodies Brought to Kathmandu for Post-Mortem
Authorities have brought the bodies of eight people killed in Tuesday’s flash flood in Rasuwa to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, for post-mortem examination.
According to Nepal Police Spokesperson, Deputy Inspector General Binod Ghimire, only one of the eight victims has been identified so far. Family members performed the last rites on Wednesday.
Police recovered the body of Assistant Sub-Inspector Lal Bahadur Shrestha, who went missing during the floods, from the bank of the Trishuli River at a location known as 15 Kilo in Chitwan. His family received the body and conducted his final rites. Nineteen people remain missing.
Authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify the remaining bodies. Among the missing are two police personnel, six Chinese nationals, and 11 local residents.
The floods washed away the Friendship Bridge on the Nepal-China border, along with 24 containers, six trucks, and 35 electric vehicles. Rescue and search operations are ongoing in downstream areas across several districts, said Sanjay Singh Thapa, Spokesperson for the Bagmati Province Police Office. Police teams are also rescuing people stranded in different parts of Rasuwa. -- RSS
