Nepal Red Cross Kalikot to invest Rs. 12.6m for emergency response

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT Kalikot, June 5:  Nepal Red Cross, Kalikot District Branch, has decided to invest Rs. 12.6 million for emergency response programme.  The Red Cross is spending the budget in partnership with Naraharinath Rural Municipality in the district. According to the branch, a budget of Rs. 12.6 million has been allocated for emergency response to the school buildings damaged by different disasters. 

In a programme organised at the office of the rural municipality on Wednesday, the branch informed that it would give priority to the reconstruction of flood and landslide-damaged structures.

Bal Prasad Sanjyal, president of the branch, said that the budget will be utilised to construct a building of Santi Secondary School, toilet, drinking water facility and other infrastructures which were destructed by last year’s monsoon. 

“We have constructed several drinking water projects, school buildings, flood-damaged stone spouts and provided financial assistance to the families of those who lost their lives in the floods and landslides last year,” said Sanjyal.

The rural municipality had already decided to share more than 20 per cent of the total cost of at least one project in the budget while working in partnership with the Red Cross.  Nagendra Bahadur Bista, chairman of the rural municipality, thanked the Red Cross branch of Kalikot for extending its hand for partnership saying that he would implement the decision made by the previous rural municipality assembly.

Nepal Red Cross has been conducting emergency response programme for a year with the help of Luxembourg Red Cross, assisting the victims of floods and landslides.

Engineer Ravi Lamichhane, coordinator of the programme, said that most of the drinking water resources were damaged by floods and landslides. He added that a budget has been allocated for drinking water project, as sanitation is essential to face a disaster.

Sher Bahadur Karki, central programme coordinator of the Red Cross, said that the Red Cross is adding more programmes in partnership with the rural municipality in the coming years. It also worked in COVID-19 prevention.