Govt to Form Task Force to Assess Destruction Caused by Rain-induced Disasters

A meeting of the Disaster Management Executive Committee held at the officce of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu has decided to form a task force to assess the destruction caused by rain-induced disasters in the last few days.

To be set up under the coordination of the joint-secretary of the authority, it will consist three undersecretaries each from the Home Ministry, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health and Population. The task force will be mandated to collect the details of destruction within 15 days.

Around 200 people have lost their lives, 30 have gone missing and at least 194 have been injured in floods and landslides until Monday, September 30, morning, according to police. 

Similarly, a total of 322 housing infrastructures were destroyed across the country with the highest of 234 losses in Koshi Province alone, reported RSS, the state-owned news agency.

Incessant rainfall in the weekend also damaged powerhouses, transmission lines and  hydropower projects, disrupting electricity supply across much of the country.

The Monday’s meeting has also decided to provide families whose houses have been destroyed in the disasters the first instalment of the grant within 10 days to set up temporary shelters.

The work of identifying such families is scheduled to be completed within a week.

Similarly, other decisions of the committee include expediting the search, rescue and relief works; helping people stranded on roads to reach their destination and bringing the obstructed roads into operation at the earliest through the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport; to run awareness campaigns and health camps to prevent the outbreak of endemic diseases through the health ministry; and to move forward the process for reconstruction of public properties.