By A Special Newslook Correspondent
"The government has announced to have already released a sum of 8.2 million rupees as an immediate rescue package. Obviously, the amount will just be a pint of salt in the whole water."
More than 100 people have died in the floods that wreaked havoc in the mid- southern district of Sarlahi and other parts of the kingdom owing mainly to the swelling of the Bagmati and other rivers and landslides caused by incessant heavy downpour during the past few days.
A Home Ministry spokesman said a total of 95 people were already confirmed dead whereas eight more were "still missing" till Friday, August 4. Sixty people have sustained injuries (severe to minor in nature) in the calamity.
Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi, briefing the parliament members on the loss of lives and property, said over 3 thousand families and some fourthousand cattle have been affected by the floods in some 38 districts in the terai region.
Government officials have calculated the loss of property worth 12 crore rupees (120 million) but individuals closer to affected areas claim billions of rupees worth of property has been lost or damaged.
Gyanu Dhungana, 51, a resident of Rajghat, Sarlahi, says the actual deaths and the loss or the extent of damage could be much more than the"presently calculated and identified", considering the fact that settlements in and around the Bagmati embankments had soared over the recent months. He expects the figure of toll to be at least 150.
About 1000 people and some two hundred households in Mahinathpur VDC, Sarlahi, have been badly affected as all their property has been swept away in the floods caused by a sudden collapse of a part of embankment on the already swollen Bagmati river on Friday.
Several other villages, including Sudama, Hathiol, Balara, Achalgarh, and Mirjapur have been submerged in the floodwater. Likewise, flood in the local Lakhandehi river has affected four other villages in this district.
Infants among victims
In Sindhuli, two infants, Rupesh and Prabesh, both males, were killed as their domicile was smashed by a landslide in Kamalamai VDC. Their mother--who has been injured-- is undergoing treatment, officials said. In Saldhara-7, Kavrepalanchowk, a twelve-year-old Rajman Gole, son of Jagat B Gole, lost his life in a similar landslide.
In the inner terai district of Chitwan, where the famous Royal Chitwan National Park is located, the Narayani river has swollen beyond anyone's guess, sweeping away some seven houses and submerging a considerable hectares of arable land in Madi, Ayodhyapuri area.
The same river down in Nawalparasi has swept away some 80 houses, rendering over 600 bighas of land into a small island. At least 650 people who were stranded in the middle of the flood-laced settlements were airlifted by an army helicopter and camped at a local primary school building.
Likewise, 14 people have been killed and over 500 affected by the recent floods and landslides in Tanahun district.
Relief measures very poor
The government has announced to have already released a sum of 8.2 million rupees as an immediate rescue package to the flood and landslide victims. But, obviously, the amount will not be more than a pint of salt in the whole water, many opine.
For example, affected people in Nawalparasi have claimed that, so far, no further relief measures have been taken other than distributing a few kilos of chyura (beaten rice) to them.
In Tanahun, those rendered homeless have been given 1000 rupees per family, which, too, cannot in anyway compensate their loss--not even as an immediate relief package.
Some people blame government's ad hoc working style, whether it is in relation to doing relief works at the time of calamities or undertaking precautionary, or development works in other times. Durga Tiwari, a Nawalparasi based teacher, argues that the same was the reason for the present crisis too. "Last year also the Narayani river had caused problem. The government constructed an embankment but in an ad hoc manner. So this problem again."
He says unless a reliable embankment is constructed the river will eat several more villages soon.Considering the fact that the current crisis in Sarlahi, too, was caused by a burst in the embankment of the Bagmati river, the blame seems simply justified. Besides these, haphazard urbanization and rapid deforestation have their own role in it.
Spread of diseases
With floods and landslides taking a heavy toll on life and property, the fear of various epidemic diseases also looms large.
In Nawalparasi alone, more than 150 people were diagnosed to have caught measles and other skin disorders over a couple of days. With Kathmandu being already unable to deliver enough medicine to various districts, providing the same to the flood-hit areas is less likely to come within the government's ability or efficiency.
Relatd News Links
• 68 dists hit by floods, toll at 95, House informedTRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Embankment at Tilaurakot, TRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Heavy floods inundate villages in Sarlahi, TRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Key highway opened, relief starts, TKP, 05 Aug, '00
• At least 95 killed in flashfloods, landslide, TKP, 05 aug. '00
• Monsoon brings more death and destruction, KOL, 05 Aug. '00
• Kathmandu's Road link to Terai Re-opened, Nepalnews, 05 Aug. '00
• Over 150 stranded people rescued, KOL, 04 Aug, '00
• Flood, landslide toll climbs to nearly one hundred, KOL, 04 Aug. '00
• Floods, Landslides Kill More than 82 Persons, Nepalnews, 04 Aug. '00
• Road link between capital and rest of nation cut off, Nepalnews, 04 Aug. '00
• Natural disaster implementation in Chisapani, The Independent, 02 August, '00
International
• Early Asian Monsoon Causes Lethal Floods and Landslides, ENS, August 14, '00
• WSWS Analysis: Hundreds killed by floods ... by Vilani Peris, 12 Aug. '00
• Nepal flood, landslides death toll hits 110, Alernet, 14 August
• In response to a disaster, Kuensel Editorial, 12 Aug. '00
• Floods Recede in Northeast India, Aid Brought In, Reuters/Yahoo, 12 Aug. '00
• 100 killed as Nepal is hit by monsoon, The Telegraph, 05 Aug. '00
• Hundred feared dead in Nepal flooding, BBC, 04 Aug, '00
• 8 People Killed by floods in Nepal, Xinhua at northernlight.com, 04 August, '00
• 200 bodies recovered in Bhutan, BBC, 07 Aug, '00 |Deadly Deluge, Fox News, Aug. 07, '00 | BBC Video
Related Web Links
• HMG's Local Govrnance Program
• The Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association, International (DERA)
• ReliefWeb Homepage
• The International Decade for Natural Disaste Reduction
"The government has announced to have already released a sum of 8.2 million rupees as an immediate rescue package. Obviously, the amount will just be a pint of salt in the whole water."
More than 100 people have died in the floods that wreaked havoc in the mid- southern district of Sarlahi and other parts of the kingdom owing mainly to the swelling of the Bagmati and other rivers and landslides caused by incessant heavy downpour during the past few days.
A Home Ministry spokesman said a total of 95 people were already confirmed dead whereas eight more were "still missing" till Friday, August 4. Sixty people have sustained injuries (severe to minor in nature) in the calamity.
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Landslides Seclude Kathmandu
Meanwhile, the capital Kathmandu is shut from the terai and western districts as a portion of the road on the bank of Trishuli in Dhadhing district is damaged by a landslide since August 2.
Even the old route of Tribhuvan Highway suffers the same problem.
In the downtown, sewerage canal Tukucha has wreaked havoc, crushing some houses below their level and damaging millions of property including computer hardware and cars of some companies in Kamaladi.
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Government officials have calculated the loss of property worth 12 crore rupees (120 million) but individuals closer to affected areas claim billions of rupees worth of property has been lost or damaged.
Gyanu Dhungana, 51, a resident of Rajghat, Sarlahi, says the actual deaths and the loss or the extent of damage could be much more than the"presently calculated and identified", considering the fact that settlements in and around the Bagmati embankments had soared over the recent months. He expects the figure of toll to be at least 150.
About 1000 people and some two hundred households in Mahinathpur VDC, Sarlahi, have been badly affected as all their property has been swept away in the floods caused by a sudden collapse of a part of embankment on the already swollen Bagmati river on Friday.
Several other villages, including Sudama, Hathiol, Balara, Achalgarh, and Mirjapur have been submerged in the floodwater. Likewise, flood in the local Lakhandehi river has affected four other villages in this district.
Infants among victims
In Sindhuli, two infants, Rupesh and Prabesh, both males, were killed as their domicile was smashed by a landslide in Kamalamai VDC. Their mother--who has been injured-- is undergoing treatment, officials said. In Saldhara-7, Kavrepalanchowk, a twelve-year-old Rajman Gole, son of Jagat B Gole, lost his life in a similar landslide.
In the inner terai district of Chitwan, where the famous Royal Chitwan National Park is located, the Narayani river has swollen beyond anyone's guess, sweeping away some seven houses and submerging a considerable hectares of arable land in Madi, Ayodhyapuri area.
The same river down in Nawalparasi has swept away some 80 houses, rendering over 600 bighas of land into a small island. At least 650 people who were stranded in the middle of the flood-laced settlements were airlifted by an army helicopter and camped at a local primary school building.
Likewise, 14 people have been killed and over 500 affected by the recent floods and landslides in Tanahun district.
Relief measures very poor
The government has announced to have already released a sum of 8.2 million rupees as an immediate rescue package to the flood and landslide victims. But, obviously, the amount will not be more than a pint of salt in the whole water, many opine.
For example, affected people in Nawalparasi have claimed that, so far, no further relief measures have been taken other than distributing a few kilos of chyura (beaten rice) to them.
In Tanahun, those rendered homeless have been given 1000 rupees per family, which, too, cannot in anyway compensate their loss--not even as an immediate relief package.
Some people blame government's ad hoc working style, whether it is in relation to doing relief works at the time of calamities or undertaking precautionary, or development works in other times. Durga Tiwari, a Nawalparasi based teacher, argues that the same was the reason for the present crisis too. "Last year also the Narayani river had caused problem. The government constructed an embankment but in an ad hoc manner. So this problem again."
He says unless a reliable embankment is constructed the river will eat several more villages soon.Considering the fact that the current crisis in Sarlahi, too, was caused by a burst in the embankment of the Bagmati river, the blame seems simply justified. Besides these, haphazard urbanization and rapid deforestation have their own role in it.
Spread of diseases
With floods and landslides taking a heavy toll on life and property, the fear of various epidemic diseases also looms large.
In Nawalparasi alone, more than 150 people were diagnosed to have caught measles and other skin disorders over a couple of days. With Kathmandu being already unable to deliver enough medicine to various districts, providing the same to the flood-hit areas is less likely to come within the government's ability or efficiency.
Relatd News Links
• 68 dists hit by floods, toll at 95, House informedTRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Embankment at Tilaurakot, TRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Heavy floods inundate villages in Sarlahi, TRN, 05 Aug. '00
• Key highway opened, relief starts, TKP, 05 Aug, '00
• At least 95 killed in flashfloods, landslide, TKP, 05 aug. '00
• Monsoon brings more death and destruction, KOL, 05 Aug. '00
• Kathmandu's Road link to Terai Re-opened, Nepalnews, 05 Aug. '00
• Over 150 stranded people rescued, KOL, 04 Aug, '00
• Flood, landslide toll climbs to nearly one hundred, KOL, 04 Aug. '00
• Floods, Landslides Kill More than 82 Persons, Nepalnews, 04 Aug. '00
• Road link between capital and rest of nation cut off, Nepalnews, 04 Aug. '00
• Natural disaster implementation in Chisapani, The Independent, 02 August, '00
International
• Early Asian Monsoon Causes Lethal Floods and Landslides, ENS, August 14, '00
• WSWS Analysis: Hundreds killed by floods ... by Vilani Peris, 12 Aug. '00
• Nepal flood, landslides death toll hits 110, Alernet, 14 August
• In response to a disaster, Kuensel Editorial, 12 Aug. '00
• Floods Recede in Northeast India, Aid Brought In, Reuters/Yahoo, 12 Aug. '00
• 100 killed as Nepal is hit by monsoon, The Telegraph, 05 Aug. '00
• Hundred feared dead in Nepal flooding, BBC, 04 Aug, '00
• 8 People Killed by floods in Nepal, Xinhua at northernlight.com, 04 August, '00
• 200 bodies recovered in Bhutan, BBC, 07 Aug, '00 |Deadly Deluge, Fox News, Aug. 07, '00 | BBC Video
Related Web Links
• HMG's Local Govrnance Program
• The Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association, International (DERA)
• ReliefWeb Homepage
• The International Decade for Natural Disaste Reduction
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