Flood damage data collection still incomplete in Kavre

By Kedar Timalsina,Banepa, Feb. 22: Nearly five months have passed since floods and landslides caused massive damages in Kavrepalanchowk district on September 27 and 28 last year. 

Yet, the detailed record of the destruction has not been fully submitted to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority's (NDRRMA) disaster portal. 

The District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) of Kavrepalanchowk reported that of the 13 local levels in the district, data from only two have reached the portal. So far, Panauti Municipality and Namobuddha Municipality have entered the data of houses destroyed by the floods and landslides. 

Meanwhile, some other local levels are still in the process of entering their data and two local levels have not provided any information, according to the committee.

Sworna Joshi, an officer at the DDMC, said that disaster data from Mandandeupur Municipality and Bhumlu Rural Municipality are still missing. She explained that issues such as changes in disaster contact personnel have caused delays in obtaining the necessary data.

According to Joshi, the disaster portal currently includes data of 586 households in Panauti Municipality and 824 households in Namobuddha Municipality. Similarly, as of February 3, Banepa Municipality has entered data for 44 households, Dhulikhel Municipality for 86, Panchkhal Municipality for 77, Bethanchok Rural Municipality for 223 and Roshi Rural Municipality for 357 affected households.

Similarly, Chaurideurali Rural Municipality reported damage to 178 households, Mahabharat Rural Municipality to 14, Khanikhola Rural Municipality to 46 and Temal Rural Municipality to 393 households. In total, the DDMC has recorded the destruction of 3,678 households across 13 local levels in the district.

The committee said that some local levels reported higher damage figures than the actual impact, creating challenges in distributing temporary housing and emergency cash assistance. 

According to the committee, floods and landslides from September 26 to 28, 2024, partially damaged 6,502 private homes across the district’s 13 local levels. 

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) and Nepal Red Cross Society have provided emergency cash assistance to affected households at four local levels. However, due to incomplete and inconsistent data, other local levels have not yet received assistance.

The DDMC said that the Red Cross distributed Rs. 144.45 million to 963 affected households in Panauti Municipality. In Bethanchok Rural Municipality, WFP provided Rs. 38.8 million to 235 households and the Red Cross provided Rs. 36.15 million to 241 families.

Likewise, WFP distributed Rs. 199.05 million to 1,232 households in Roshi Rural Municipality and Rs. 190.25 million to 1,021 households in Temal Rural Municipality.

Some aid organisations have completed on-site data collection to distribute cash assistance. 

However, the inability to fully enter damage data into the disaster portal has delayed the distribution of Rs. 50,000 promised by the government for temporary housing construction.