Disaster victims to receive fund to build temporary shelters within 10 days

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct,1: The government has decided to provide grant assistance for constructing temporary shelters to those who lost their homes in floods and landslides.

A meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Executive Committee headed by Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak at National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) in Singha Durbar on Monday decided to identify beneficiaries and distribute the grants within seven days. 

The first installment of the grant will be disbursed within three days of identifying the beneficiaries.

The district-level disaster management committees will facilitate the provision of the temporary shelter grants, according to Chief Executive Officer of the Authority Anil Pokhrel.

According to the guidelines for temporary shelter construction grants-2081, the first installment of the grant will be Rs. 25,000, and the final installment will be an additional Rs. 25,000.

Last Thursday and Friday’s continuous rainfall caused damage to life and property across various parts of the country. Initially, the government has estimated property worth Rs. 25 billion has been damaged in the physical infrastructure of the government by the two days of rainfall last week.

The meeting expressed condolences to those who lost their lives due to monsoon-related disasters and decided to expedite search, rescue, and relief efforts, according to CEO Pokhrel.

A decision was also made to repair and resume operation of obstructed roads. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has been tasked with restoring roads as soon as possible to facilitate the travel of passengers stranded on highways.

Additionally, it was decided to expedite the provision of essential services such as drinking water infrastructure.

To mobilise humanitarian assistance for search, rescue, relief, and rehabilitation of disaster-affected people, partner organisations like the United Nations agencies and the Red Cross will deploy volunteers as required under the leadership of the respective cluster lead.

The Ministry of Health and Population has been instructed to assess the risk of epidemics in disaster-affected areas and implement awareness programmes and health camps to prevent the spread of epidemic-related diseases.

A recommendation was also made to present a proposal to the Cabinet for the approval of the Disaster-Sensitive Social Security Guidelines-2081, as per Section 39 of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act-2074, after consulting with the Ministry of Law.

Furthermore, a decision was made to form a task force to assess the damage. This committee will be led by an Authority-level Joint Secretary and include experts from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance, Health, Physical Infrastructure, Agriculture, Education, Urban Development, Water Supply, Energy, and Information, among others.

In road infrastructure alone, the government has estimated that property worth Rs. 164 million was damaged by the floods and landslides. According to Dr. Dijan Bhattarai, who is also the Spokesperson of the Authority, a total of 21,500 metres road has been damaged by the two-day rainfall.

 According to the situation report of the NDRRMA, one culvert, two Bailey bridges, four RCC simply supported bridges, two RCC prestressed bridges, one arch bridge, one steel truss bridge, and two trail bridge were damaged by the flooding and landslides across the country. Altogether, bridges totaling 610 metres were damaged in the recent calamities.    

Similarly, property worth Rs. 190 million was damaged in irrigation project except Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project. 

According to Dr. Bhattarai, a total of 548 households have been damaged by the recent rainfall across the country mainly in Bagmati and Koshi provinces. As per Authority’s review meeting, so far 20 districts have been found directly affected by the heavy and continuous rainfall from September 26 to 28.