PM Deuba directs MoHA to gear up for immediate rescue and relief

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has directed the bodies concerned to make arrangements for the immediate rescue and relief of those affected by flood, landslide, and inundation following heavy rainfall in various regions of the country.

PM Deuba issued this directive to Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand this morning. Following this, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand instructed the bodies under the Ministry to mitigate disaster risk and to protect peoples' life and property from disaster-related incidents.

He has directed all the security bodies and the local administrations to work without any lacking in the rescue and relief works.

Chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Anil Pokharel said along with the Home Minister's directives, assurance of full support has been received from the Ministry for the rescue and relief operations.

The security bodies and the local administrations of the affected districts have mobilised in disaster management works. Chief Executive Officer Pokharel said requests for rescue by helicopter have been received from places where people have been stranded due to flooding in various districts, and the necessary process for the same has been initiated accordingly.

According to him, cloudy weather has developed throughout the country since October 17 and the western region of the country has been affected the most due to floods.

The big rivers as Seti, Mahakali, Karnali, West Rapti, among others, and their tributaries are flooded.

A person each has died and has been injured in Dadeldhura and Kalikot district due to the disaster.

Two hundred houses have been inundated in the Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur. The local administration in Kanchanpur district has said rescue efforts are on in the area. NDRRMA Chief Pokharel shared that the water level and current in the Mahakali river were high and the people in the nearby at-risk settlements have been evacuated to safer places.

A police office in Bajhang district has been inundated and the police personnel there have moved to a safe zone. People in settlements close to the Karnali river have been affected in Bardiya district due to the rise in water levels in the river.

The Ministry stated that the Beni-Mustang road, the Bhimdatta highway of Doti, the Chaukhutte- Achham- Bajura road section in Achham, the Jayaprithvi highway of Bajhang, and the Martadi-Kolti and the Sanphe-Martadi road sections in Bajura district have been obstructed due to flood and landslide.

The rain and flood have also damaged the harvested rice crop in many areas, affecting the farmers.

The Ministry has urged the people in these districts to remain safe as there is a possibility of rain until tomorrow. Nepal is currently under the combined impact of the low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal and Central India (gradually shifting north) and the westerly wind.

There are chances of heavy rain in some places of the Sudurpaschim Province and Province no 1; at a few places of Province 2, Lumbini Province, and Karnali Province and at one or two places of Bagmati Province today also, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.